Angel Prince
by smokeydirtcat
Summary: Echizen is an angel although no one knows it. What happens when a mysterious person attacks Echizen and the Seigaku regulars discover something that changes their lives forever? Little OOC every now and then.
1. Three Long Years

**Hello everyone! This is my FIRST fanfic. I would like to say thanks to **_**cocophyz12 **_**for letting me adopt this story. The one I adopted it from it called **_**The Prince of Angels**_** if anyone wants to take a look. Hopefully there will be steady updates until the story is done. Sorry if there isn't. **

**I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis… sadly**

**Read, comment, critique, all that fun stuff. Enjoy!**

* * *

Early morning practices did not make Echizen happy. He hated the thought of waking up early. And he hated morning practice for making him get up at such ungodly hours. He had an unpleasant feeling that distracted him all morning. Echizen sighed for the _n_th time that morning.

Practice had begun and Tezuka had all the regulars play against non-regulars for warm-up. Everyone's matches went smooth and quick except for Echizen's. Everyone has 6-0 games in their favor, except for Echizen. He was playing Arai with 4-3, but it was in his favor. All of the regulars, Tezuka included, couldn't help but notice their kouhai's* strange behavior.

"Ne, what's up with Echizen? He's been acting weird since I picked him up this morning and I've never seen him have this bad a game." Momo asked as the regulars started to gather and watch Echizen's game.

"Maybe he's just tired." Taka said. "We all know how he hates getting up early."

"But that never seemed to bug him before, I mean, no more than usual."

"Maybe he's hurt or his cat died and now he's depressed." Oishi commented as he slowly transformed to mother hen mode. "And he might be so depressed that he will go jump off of a bridge and kill himself! We have to do something!"

"Saa… I don't think that he would do something that rash." Fuji said trying to calm Oishi down.

"Fsshhh… It's not like him." hissed Kaidou.

Tezuka remained silent throughout the conversation while Inui was writing in his notebook.

"Ii data. Everyone cares for Echizen in one way or another."

By this time, Echizen's match was over. He had barely won Arai 6-4. He started to walk to the bench to get a drink when he was attacked be Eiji.

"Nya, Ochibi-chan*, daijobu*?"Eiji asked as he latched onto Echizen.

"K-Kikumaru-sempai*, c-can't b-breath." Echizen tried to say as he gasped for air.

"Gomen ne*!" Eiji said apologetically letting go of him. "Ne, Ochibi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Kikumaru-sempai." he said lying through his teeth.

"You can't lie to data Echizen." Inui said, popping out of nowhere nearly giving him a heart attack. "You have been sighing 39% more than usual and your concentration decrease by 9.6%"

"I told you, it's nothing." he stated bluntly and walked away.

With that said, and Tezuka announcing the end of practice, Echizen was the first to leave the group and go into the club room. The rest of the regulars just looked at him as he walked away. Fuji noticed that he was clutching his right arm as he walked into the club room.

"He's injured." He stated bluntly.

Everyone looked at him with questionable and shocked stares as noticed the icy blue color of his eyes.

"He was clutching his arm and only playing with his left during his match. He also winced when Eiji jumped on him"

"Ahhh! I knew it! He was injured! What if it's broken? What if he can never play tennis again?" Oishi started to panic like mother hen he is.

"Fsshhh… Oishi-sempai, I don't think he would be playing if his arm was broken." Kaidou hissed, if only trying to calm him down a little.

"Baka Mamoshi*. Nothing would stop him from playing." Momo stated.

"Nani*? You wanna go you stupid peach?" Kaidou hissed back.

"Maa, maa. This isn't the time to be fighting you two. We have to find out what's wrong with Echizen." Taka said trying to calm the two down.

After Momo and Kaidou calmed down, they all made their way to the changing room and looked inside through the window to see Echizen with bandages around his chest and right arm. They all stood there in complete horror. What could have happened to him to make him need all of those bandages?

'_Gah!'_ Echizen thought as he quickly tried to change has bandages before anyone else came in._ 'It stings. I'm going to be sore for at least a week. Damn them. Why did they have to come back now of all times? It's been at least three years since the last attack'._ He took the bandages off of his arm first and everyone who was looking in from outside gasped as they saw a deep gash going from just below where his shoulder started to just above his elbow. Then he started to unravel the ones from his chest only for the regulars to see even more cuts and scars.

Eiji started to cry. He couldn't stand the sight of his kouhai in that state. Oishi tried to comfort his while Taka, Momo and Kaidou just stared with their mouths open. Fuji's eyes were now wide open, staring at all the cuts that were on Echizen's body. Inui had dropped his pencil and just looked. Even Tezuka could not bring himself to turn away. At that moment, everyone's thoughts were the same. _'I'm going to kill whoever did this to him.'_

* * *

Echizen finished applying new bandages and changed into his school uniform only to see all of the regulars standing in the doorway.

"Oi Echizen! What the hell is with all of those scares and cuts?" Momo was the first one to blurt out his question.

"It's nothing." He replied apathetically.

"100% that those are not nothing." Inui said looking down into his notebook. "10% that you are being abused at home, 35% that you are being bullied, 5% that you got mugged and 50% something unimaginable that you will not tell us about."

"You can change that 50% to 100% Inui-sempai. Nothing happened." Echizen said with a smirk.

"Nya Ochibi, tell us what's wrong!" Eiji demanded in a rather loud voice as he latched himself onto Echizen, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Itai*!" he grunted rather quickly causing Eiji to let go.

"Aww! Mōshiwakearimasen* Ochibi! Please don't hate me!" he shouted as he lunged off of him with tears in his eyes.

"It's fine Kikumaru-Sempai. Now if you all don't mind, I'm going to be late for class. Move."

No one moved an inch. The only one to do something was Tezuka. He came to the front of the group and looked at Echizen.

"We're not moving until you tell us what happened to you."

Knowing it would be easier to not argue with the captain, Echizen took a seat on the bench and muttered one word.

"Fine."

Everyone gathered in the club room, prepared to hear his story.

**Flashback-The Previous Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Practice had run later than usual and everyone was in a rush to get home. It looked as it was going to storm.

Momo had gotten changed quicker than usual so he left without Echizen. Echizen finished changing then left for home. He had a feeling like someone was watching him as he left the school. He shook the feeling off and kept walking. The sky had gotten darker but it hadn't begun to rain as of yet. He was just about to turn onto his street when he heard someone walking behind him. He just assumed they were going the same way but soon they got harder and were going at a quicker pace. He turned around just in time to see someone almost at a sprint coming towards him with something shiny in his hand. He moved out of the way just in time. He stumbled and fell on the ground. He looked up at his attacker.

"Hello my dear Prince." The figure said in dangerous but cheery voice. "I'm glad to see that living in this world all this time hasn't affected your abilities in any way."

"It's been a long time hasn't it, Archer?" Echizen smirked.

Archer isn't something you would call human. He had red hair down to the middle of his back, blood-red eyes, pointy ears with god knows how many piercings, short black wings and a pure black tail.

"Three years today." He happily stated as he dashed to Echizen with the dagger.

"What makes you think you can kill me now?" Echizen asked in a board tone as he leaped out of the way. "What makes today different from three years ago?"

"I've been training while you've just enjoyed your little vacation here. Today is the day I will kill you!" Archer said in a more serious tone.

"I'd like to see you try." Echizen taunted with a smirk as he seemingly pulled a short sword out of nowhere.

"Heh… Cocky brat. Prepare to meet your maker!" Archer charged toward Echizen with daggers now in both hands. Echizen also charged. Their sword clashed into each other in a deadlock and made a spark. Echizen maneuvered his sword causing Archer to stumble. Echizen then took this opportunity and cut Archer's arm.

"Shit." he muttered under his breath. He then backed away clutching his arm and began to chant.

"What's wrong," Echizen teased, "Can't fight me one-on-one so you're gonna call your little friends to help?"

"Friends? What friends? I have no friends, only minions." mocked Archer as he began his chant.

"Darkness of hell and the moon lend me power; Power of darkness, now I call forward the creatures of the dark: Hell Hounds." The night got cooler; Echizen smirked as the wind rush past them and form several figures of dogs. Hell Hounds were in the shape of dogs that has razor sharp teeth and moves very quickly.

"Kill him!" Archer yelled. The Hounds rushed Echizen but he quickly dodged their attacks and sliced them with his sword causing the hounds to vanish into the air like little dust particles. Taking advantage of the attention not being drawn to him, Archer rushed toward Echizen and sliced him on his chest. He winced in pain, but lucky it he was able to dodge so it wasn't as deep as it could have been. Disposing of the hounds and holding his chest, Echizen sighed and flew up into the air, with golden wings emerging from his back*. He was already tired from practice and wanted to get home and sleep. He knew that wouldn't happen unless he used his own spell. He plucked a feather from his back and began to chant.

"Heaven and Earth, fire and water, sun and moon, as the prince of angels, I ask you to lend me your power to dispose of this minion of hell: Sun's Blinding Light!" he finished the chant and threw the feather into the air where it erupted with his pure white light.

"Damn it...it's that light!" Archer winced from the pain of the light.

Echizen watched as he disappeared into the shadows. The light faded and he slowly floated to the ground, his wings disappearing when his feet touched the floor. He looked around to see if Archer was still hiding in the shadows but he was gone.

Echizen sighed as he picked up his things, grunting from pain as he bent over, and headed home.

**End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Everyone was dumbfounded when Echizen finished his story and just stared at him.

'_So much for keeping everything a secret_' he thought to himself. _'Maybe it was too much for them to handle.'_

Tezuka was the first to speak.

"Echizen, you are excused from afternoon practice."

"No need Buchou*. I'm fine." He replied nonchalantly.

"NO YOU'RE NOT" all the regulars shouted in unison.

"Echizen, you can't play until you fully heal!" Oishi said fully in mother hen mode.

"Nya Ochibi, where is this guy? I'll show him what happens when he messes with my friends!" Eiji said looking out the window.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, you need to take care of yourself." Kaidou hissed.

With everyone now complaining to him, he could barely hear the bell ring.

"That's the bell sempai-tachi*. We need to get to class."

With that said he got up and started to head out the door. Everyone got up to follow him but he stopped in the doorway. Everyone stopped and looked at him only to see him bolt out and shut the door behind him.

"Oi Echizen, what the hell? Open the door!" Momo shouted to him.

"I can't let my sempai-tachi get involved!" he shouted back.

They all started pounding on the door, hoping that it would open, all except for Taka. He was staring out the window.

"O-Oi minna-san*, I think you need to take a look at this." Taka's voice was shivering.

The sky grew dark. They all looked out the window to see a dark figure in the sky, looking down at Echizen.

"Oi gaki*, didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?"

* * *

**So, how was it? Please review and critique! Not sure if there will be any parings yet: P so far its EchizenxEveryone. Hope you liked it!**

**Sorry if there are any grammatical or spelling errors that I didn't catch**

**For all of the definitions, they aren't exact but along the lines somewhere: D**

**Kouhai- the opposite of Sempai. **

**Ochibi- small boy or our baby**

**Daijobu- are you okay?**

**Gomen ne- sorry**

**Baka- stupid, idiot**

**Mamoshi- snake, viper**

**Itai- ouch, that hurt**

**Mōshiwakearimasen- I'm so sorry**

**Buchou- captain**

**Sempai- upperclassmen **

**Sempai-tachi- plural of sempai**

**Minna-san- everyone, all of you**

**Gaki- brat**

**Golden wings emerging from his back- I got the idea for this from the manga **_**Asterisk. **_**The main character is an angel with wings the color of the sun. I don't own that either: P**


	2. Battle: Enter Brother

**Okay, chapter two! Hopefully everyone liked the first one. Sorry in advance if there is any grammatical or spelling errors. I would appreciate it if you reviewed and critiqued so please do. If you have any ideas of what you would like to see happen, please let me know:D**

** Again, sadly, I do not own Prince of Tennis… but if I did, a lot of crazy-ass things would happen.**

* * *

"O-Oi minna-san*, I think you need to take a look at this." Taka's voice was shivering.

The sky grew dark. They all looked out the window to see a dark figure in the sky, looking down at Echizen.

"Oi gaki*, didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?"

* * *

**Inside the club room**

"Who is that?" Tezuka asked as he stared out the window.

"I bet he's the one who did all that to Ochibi!" Eiji said angrily.

"Damn it Echizen! What did he do? Why can't we get out of here?" Momo said trying to break down the club room door.

"Oi Momo, stop. You're only going to injure yourself doing that." Taka said trying to calm Momo down.

"How can I stop when that bastard is out there with my best friend and he is responsible for all those scars on him? If I get my hands on him, he's dead!"

"We all feel that way Momo but-" Taka was cut off by Fuji."

"Kore o toro*, Taka-san." Fuji said not taking his eyes off of Echizen.

"DORIA*! I'LL BREAK DOWN THAT DOOR BABY! MOMOSHIRO MOOOOVE!" Taka shouted as he went into burning mode taking the racket from Fuji.

Taka started banging in the door, trying to get it open.

* * *

**Outside (this is happening when everyone inside it trying to figure out what's happening)**

"It's been such a long time my Prince." Archer said with a smirk.

"What the hell are you talking about? You tried to kill me yesterday. And _failed miserably._" He put emphasis on _failed miserably_ as he spoke.

"Che. You'll regret that Gaki. Today, I will kill you. The angel world will fall into ruins and this little paradise world you live in will cease to exist,"

"Just try it."

Echizen suddenly disappeared. He reappeared behind Archer and kicked him to the ground. He landed face first in the ground leaving an indentation.

By this time, the rest of the regulars had broken out of the club room.

"GAH! BURNING! Taka shouted running out onto the tennis courts followed by everyone else.

"Echizen! Daijobuka!" Everyone shouted in unison.

"Nya, Ochibi is so pretty!" Eiji said with stars in his eyes. Echizen had his wings out at this time.

"Now isn't the time for that Eiji." Oishi said following after him.

Echizen quickly turned around with horror in his eyes. _'Shit! How the hell did they get out!' _He thought as he caught site of them.

"Baka sempai-tachi! Get back into the room!" he shouted at them but to no avail. They were all focused on the being in front of them.

"Oi! What the hell do think that you're doing to my best friend?"

"Fsshhh… You're going to pay for what you did."

"YOU'RE GONNA GO DOWN BABY! COME ON!"

"Saa, we can't forgive anyone who has hurt our dear friend."

"I'll take you down with the power of data."

"I don't know who you think you are but that is no way to treat a child!"

"Nya, we're going to beat you with all our strength!"

"Minna, Yudan suru ikenai*."

Archer looked at them and laughed."Ha. Are they what you call your friends, my dear Prince?" Echizen glared at him. "I would at least think that they would be a little bit stronger."

"Kisama*. I'll kill you!" Momo said as he rushed Archer at full force.

"Momo-sempai! Dame*!" Echizen shouted.

Archer chuckled then glared at him with his fierce eyes.

"Stop joking. You think a puny human such as yourself can stop me?"

As Momo reached him, he tried to punch him. Archer stopped Momo's fist, smirked at him and punched him in the stomach. The force of the punch was enough to send Momo flying backwards into the side of the club room, leaving a small dent.

Momo lay on the ground as the others came running towards him shouting his name.

"Momo!"

"Momoshiro!"

"Momoshi!"

"Momo-sempai!" Echizen's was the loudest among all of them. He flew down to Momo to see if he was okay. "Daijobu Momo-sempai?"

"A-Ah" Momo's voice was shaken. "I guess I found someone who can beat me in a fight." He said in a joking tone.

"Aho* sempai. Why do you think I kept you in the clu-" Echizen was cut short as he felt a sharp pain in his side.

"Echizen/Ochibi!" Everyone shouted.

He looked at his side and saw a small dagger. He quickly pulled it out and tried to stop the blood flow.

"Oh my God! Echizen! Are you okay!" Oishi said with fear and concern in his voice.

"You bastard!" Kaidou yelled out. He was about to charge at him when Echizen caught his hand.

"No Kaidou-sempai. He's not someone you can win against." Echizen said holding his side.

"Echizen… Fsshhh…." Kaidou hissed as he got back with the group.

"Oishi, what do we do now?" Eiji asked. Oishi was just as frightened as his companions. He looked over his shoulder hoping Tezuka could do something. But Tezuka was just as frightened as everyone else.

"Now my Prince," Archer started, "It seems that I have found your weakness. Your little friends sure do hinder your focus on the battle field."

Echizen glared at him. "If you as much as look at them funny, I will kill you."

"Oh, now, now. Is that anyway a Prince should act? But what do I care. If you focus on them more than me, I guess I'll just have to kill them. I'm not second to anyone" He summoned his hell hounds and ordered them to kill all the regulars.

Echizen was fending them off when he noticed that Archer was making his move. He attacked Echizen while the hounds attacked the regulars. He knew that he couldn't fight off both at the same time, so he put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Just as he did, a hell hound got past him and was on its way to everyone else. Just as it was about to attack, it was tackled by a big furry creature. In the blink of an eye, the hound was gone and the furry creature was standing in front of the regulars.

"Karupin! Make sure nothing happens to them!" Echizen shouted.

The regulars looked that the beast in front of them and noticed that it was a bigger, mangier, and more fierce version of his cat. **(Think of how Kilala looks from Inuyasha)**

"Sempai-tachi, if any get past that Karupin can't get to, use these." He shouts as he plucks out eight of his feathers and throws them at his teammates. "Just hold them out in front of you and you should be fine."

All of the regulars grabbed hold of the feathers and felt warmth. They were all encased in a warm golden glow.

With his friends guarded properly, Echizen could now give his full attention to the enemy in front of him.

"You wanted my full attention, now you have it." Echizen said narrowing his eyes.

"Yes! That's the look I want! Echizen Ryoma. Prince of Angels, come at me with your full force!" Archer said with maniacal laughter.

Echizen flew higher and soon he was floating in the air and a green aura surrounded his body.

"As Prince of Angels, to keep the pure light of the human world, Sun lend me the power. Now I ask you to unleash your power: Heaven's Fury" Echizen placed an enchantment on a feather. The feather glowed with the brightest light and shot into the sky, far out of sight.

"What the hell was th-" Archer couldn't even finish his sentence before the feather came back down and plunged itself into his chest and bursts with a white light.

"GAH!" Archer screamed in pain.

"It's the end for you, Archer."

"H-Heh. Just because I failed doesn't mean that the others will." He began to cough up blood then he faded into the shadows.

"Ochibi! You did it!" Eiji shouted with a smile on his face.

"Echizen!" Fuji, Momo, Inui, Kaidou and even Tezuka shouted with smiles on their faces.

Echizen looked at his friends and smiled.

"It's alright now everyone, your… safe now. He won't… be coming back… any…time…soon…" Echizen could barely say that last sentence he was so tired. He couldn't hold himself up anymore. He started to drop out of the sky.

Everyone gasped and screamed his name. They got up and tried to run to where he would land but they were too far away and wouldn't make it in time.

"ECHIZEN! WAKE UP!" They all shouted, hoping the boy would hear and save himself.

But he just kept falling. He was getting closer and closer to the ground. Everyone was still shouting his name, hoping that he would wake up.

Suddenly, there was a flash that made all the regulars stop in their tracks and shield their eye. When they opened them again, they saw a figure holding Echizen carefully and gracefully, slowly floating to the ground.

"Chibisuke*.Chibisuke. If you don't open your eyes soon, you friends will start to worry." the figure said gently. Echizen slowly open his eyes, but he couldn't see it clearly, his vision was blurry.

"Aniki*…?" This was the only word he managed to say before he blacked out.

"Ochibi/Echizen!" Everyone shouted running up to the figure holding Echizen.

They all looked at Echizen, making sure that he was okay. Inui was the first one to look at the person holding him.

"Who are you?" He questioned.

"Me? I'm chibisuke's onii-san*. Echizen Ryoga. Anata o mitasu tame ni yorokobi*.

* * *

**Yay! Chapter 2! Cliffhanger… sort of… Enter big brother!**

**Hope that everyone enjoyed it! Sorry or errors if there are any.**

**Kore o toro- take this**

**Doria- what Taka says when he's in burning mode**

**Kisama- bitch, bastard**

**Dame- don't, stop, no**

**Aho- dumbass**

**Chibisike- little brother, baby boy. Ryoga's nickname for Echizen**

**Anike- brother, big brother**

**Onii-san- brother, big brother**

**. ****Anata o mitasu tame ni yorokobi- pleasure to meet you**

**Yudan suru ikenai- don't let your guard down**

**Sorry if any of these definitions are incorrect. I'm just going with what Google Translate tells me.**

**Hope to see the next chapter soon!**


	3. Meet the Brother

**YEAH! I'm completely motivated right now. Sitting on my bed with my cats, listening to Van Halen. I love it!**

**Okay so, this is how updates are going to go- I have school until three and I usually get home, get something to eat and then start writing at about four. It should take me seven hours to write (I type REALLY slow) and then it's usually done by about eleven or midnight, if I don't have distractions and I know what I'm going to write.**

**Sorry if that's not how it will go but that's how I feel right now. I haven't decided on pairings yet (if any) but if you look really close, you may be able to see some that was unintentional.**

**Once more, I do not own Prince of Tennis… yet…**

**Here's chapter three. Enjoy!**

* * *

They all looked at Echizen, making sure that he was okay. Inui was the first one to look at the person holding him.

"Who are you?" He questioned.

"Me? I'm chibisuke's onii-san*. Echizen Ryoga. Anata o mitasu tame ni yorokobi*.

* * *

Everyone's, with the exception of Fuji, Tezuka, and Inui, mouth's dropped.

"…NANI!" they all shouted in unison.

"Ochibi has a brother?" Eiji questioned going deep into thought. "I wonder why he never told us."

"Ii data." Was all that came out of Inui's mouth.

"You probably never asked." Ryoga said with a smile.

Karupin had now shrunk back down to his normal size and jumped onto Echizen.

There was a loud boom, followed by a very bright flash. It had finally begun to storm. The rain started pouring down on the regulars. They all looked up at the sky which was now almost pitched black.

"Uh-oh," Ryoga said looking up at the sky "this isn't good weather to be having right now. If you guys don't want to get wet, I suggest that you get to class."

"What about Echizen? We can't just leave him." Oishi said giving him a worried look.

Everyone, including Tezuka, Fuji, and Inui nodded.

"Don't worry. He'll be safe with me."

"How do we know that you weren't with that other guy?" Taka asked accusingly.

Ryoga supported Echizen with one hand and placed the other on Taka's forehead. Taka looked straight ahead. Images were flashing in his head, memories. They contained Ryoga and Echizen doing all sorts of things together. The images suddenly stopped when he removed his hand.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't do any to hurt Chibisuke." He looked at Taka and smiled, then at everyone. "I won't let anything happen to him. Go to class. I'm going to take him home. You can come see him after."

"Saa, shouldn't you take him to a hospital?" Fuji questioned as he stared at Ryoga with his icy blue eyes. "Those injuries aren't something that can heal overnight."

"No." he said shaking his head. "It would be better if he were home. Trust me."

They all looked at him with doubt in their eyes until Tezuka finally spoke.

"Minna, get to class. We will visit him after practice."

Everyone looked at Tezuka with shocked faces.

"Yadda*! I won't leave Ochibi's side." Eiji said running over to Echizen.

"Kikumaru. Go to class or you will run 100 laps when it stops raining."

"YADDA!" he refused in a louder voice.

"I can always make him go to sleep if he refuses to listen." Ryoga said with a smile as he plucked out one of his own feathers.

Eiji sweat dropped.

"A-" he was going to say something but then looked at the smile on Ryoga's face. "_Ochibi's brother is like Fujiko*" _he thought as he made eye contact with Fuji.

Fuji saw and smiled.

"…Nya, I'll go to class." Sighed Eiji admitting defeat.

Ryoga just continued to smile.

"I'll be at his house when you're done."

His wings stood up and started to glow. Unlike Echizen's wings that are the color of the sun, Ryoga's wings are a light sea-green. A light surrounded him and Echizen as he started to flap his wings. The regulars could feel the warmth coming off of them as the air hit their faces.

"Let's get you home Chibisuke." He whispered as he flew in the direction of the house.

The regulars didn't move until they were out of sight. Once they were, they all ran to class. None of them could focus on their studies; they were all too worried about Echizen. It was still raining when it was time for afternoon practice. Tezuka was happy that it was still raining, as were all the regulars. They all knew that they weren't going to be able to focus.

"Since it doesn't look like the rain is going to let up anytime soon, practice is cancelled. Everyone go home and try not to get sick. Regulars stay." Tezuka announced to the tennis team.

After everyone was gone, the regulars gathered in the club room, gathered up their things and were headed to Echizen's house. While Kaidou was getting his things together, he noticed that Echizen's things were still there.

"_Fsshhh… Echizen's things are still here. I guess I should bring them since we're going to his house." _He thought. As he was grabbing his bag and trying to pull it on his other shoulder, he felt a tug. It turns out that Momo had the same idea and was trying to put it on his shoulder.

"Oi Mamoshi, what are you doing?" Momo said in an annoyed voice.

"Fsshhh… same to you, stupid peach." Kaidou hissed.

"I'm going to take Echizen's things home for him."

"That's what I'm going to do. Let go."

"Teme*, I had it first. You let go."

"No, I did. You let go."

They were now face to face with veins popping on their foreheads.

"Maa, maa you two. Why don't you both carry something?" Taka suggested, trying to calm both of them down.

"Keep out of this sempai!" they both said.

"Saa… you won't be able to stop them like that Taka-san. Here." Fuji said handing him a racket with a smile on his face.

"WAAA! STOP IT YOU TWO! I WILL CARRY ECHIZEN'S THINGS, BABY!" shouted Taka going into burning mode.

Momo and Kaidou immediately stopped and handed Taka Echizen's things.

"DORIA! NOW LET'S GO TO ECHIZEN'S HOUSE BABY!" Taka shouted as he was running out of the club room. Luckily, Inui managed to take the racket out of his grasp before he ran out of the room.

"Ara*? Come on guys. I don't want to keep Echizen waiting." He said coming out of burning mode. Kaidou and Momo looked at him. _'I'll never understand how he works.' _ They both thought.

* * *

They all opened their umbrellas and left the club room and made their way to Echizen's house. Eiji was practically at a sprint, almost slipping every time he stepped. Oishi was right behind him making sure that he didn't. Tezuka and Fuji were walking behind them. Taka and Inui behind them. Momo and Kaidou were at the back, muttering things to themselves.

"I wanted to carry his things."

"It would have helped me tone my arms."

When they had reached the house, Eiji rang the doorbell.

No answer. He rang it again. Still no answer. He held down the buzzer until he heard someone call down to him.

"Gomen, minna-san. Come on in." Ryoga called to them from a window on the second floor.

"Watashitachi no shin'nyū o yurushitekudasai*." They all said as they entered the house.

They were walking in and set their things on the floor. Fuji set his things down and started to explore the house. He went into the kitchen and saw a note on the table.

"Saa minna, look at this." He yelled to the others in the other room and began to read it to himself. His eyes suddenly shot open. The other regulars came in the kitchen and saw Fuji's open eyes. He was glaring at the note that was left.

"Ne, Fujiko, what is it?" Eiji asked.

Fuji said nothing but began to read the note out loud to everyone.

**(The following is the note Echizen's mother left. Think like she is saying it.)**

'_Ryo-chan,_

_Gomen ne. Your father and I had to go to America for an interview. I left you money by the stove and Nanako's new number. There should be enough for a few weeks. Call us if anything goes wrong. Be back soon. Hugs and kisses._

_Okaa-san*.'_

They all started at the note. Questions were pouring into their heads.

'_How could they just leave like that?' 'Why would they leave him alone without a word in advance?' 'I knew that his father was like that but I never would have guessed his mother is like that too.' 'I can't believe that he was going to be left alone in this house alone for who knows how long.'_

Just as Fuji put the note back on the table, Ryoga came down the stairs.

"Sorry for not being able to let you in everyone. I was bandaging Chibisuke." He said with a guilty smile.

"Not at all." Tezuka said.

"We haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Echizen Ryoga, Echizen Ryoma's brother… well, half-brother. Nice to meet you." He said shaking Tezuka's hand.

"I'm Tezuka Kunimitsu, captain of the Seigaku tennis team."

"Fuji Syuusuke. Nice to meet you."

"Oishi Shuichiro."

"Nya, Kikumaru Eiji."

"Kawamara Takashi."

"Sadaharu Inui."

"Takeshi Momoshiro."

"Fsshhh… Kaidou Kaoru."

"Uno, Ryoga-san," Eiji started. Where's Ochibi?"

"He's sleeping in his room. He should wake up soon."

"Why did that guy keep calling Echizen 'My Prince'?" Questioned Momo.

Ryoga sighed. "He still hasn't told you yet, huh? Well, I guess now is as good a time as any." He sat at the table and motioned for everyone to join him. Inui sat and took out his notebook. "That guy was a demon named Archer."

Everyone's eyes got bigger as he said demon.

"And he kept calling Chibisuke 'My Prince' because that is what he is, a prince.

Their eyes opened even wider, if possible.

"What do you mean?" Oishi asked. "Echizen a prince? Prince of what?"

"You saw the wings on his back didn't you? Chibisuke is the Prince of Angels."

Everyone sweat dropped.

"NANI?"

* * *

**Well, there it is. How will the regulars react to Ryoga's story? Find out next time… I feel like an announcer for a TV show XD. Did you like it? Do all the fun things like you have been. Review, critique all that jazz.**

**I would like to say thanks to **_**MintLeafeon, princesasakuraharuno, Mary, Annae03 and Hopelesslyhope **_**for their reviews. Thanks! You guys are awesome! And thanks to all the peoples who subscribed! You guys are awesome too!**

**I don't have anything going this week so I should have **_**maybe**_** six more chapters out this week but don't get your hopes up :D **

**Yadda-no, not gonna**

**Teme- you, bastard**

**Ara- huh?, what?**

**Watashitachi no shin'nyū o yurushitekudasai- please pardon the intrusion, please excuse the intrusion**

**Okaa-san- mom, mother**

**Again, sorry if there are any mistakes that I missed. See you next time!**


	4. Past Relived

**Hello everyone! I have a lot of energy right now so if things in this chapter are a little weirder than normal, I'm sorry. I know that the last chapter was boring and dull and I apologize. This chapter is going to be more exciting. Promise… hopefully. **

**I looked over chapter one and noticed that the definitions I put weren't there. I don't know how that happened but they were there when I typed it. Sorry about that.**

**And yet again, I (regretfully) do not own Prince of Tennis. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"And he kept calling Chibisuke 'My Prince' because that is what he is, a prince.

Their eyes opened even wider, if possible.

"What do you mean?" Oishi asked. "Echizen a prince? Prince of what?"

"You saw the wings on his back didn't you? Chibisuke is a prince of angels."

Everyone sweat dropped.

"NANI?"

* * *

"W-What do you mean?" stuttered Oishi. "What do you mean Echizen is the Prince of Angels?"

"To get you to fully understand what I mean," Ryoga started, "I'll start from the beginning." He stretched out his wings and plucked a feather. He placed it on the table. "If you all wouldn't mind placing a hand on it."

The regulars did as they were told and Ryoga started chanting.

"O Watcher of Innocence, Keeper of time. Grant me the power to show these innocent souls the tragedies of the past: Reverse."

There was a bright flash. The next thing they all knew, they were in the sky in an unknown land.

"Waaah! Korehanani jigokudesu*? Eiji shouted.

"A-Ah! How is this happening?" Oishi nervously stated.

"Saa, we appear to be floating in midair." Fuji said, staring at himself and his comrades with his open eyes.

"Ii data." Inui said trying to grasp his pencil as it was floating away from him.

"Subarashi*." Taka said in amazement.

"Oi Mamoshi, I bet I can get higher then you!" Momo boasted.

"Fsshhhh… you just try it stupid peach." Kaidou hissed.

They both started frog-kicking straight up, trying to see how high they could get.

"Momoshiro! Kaidou! Stop goofing off!" Tezuka commanded. "Minna, look below you." Tezuka pointed down and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked down. The ground was painted red and there were bodies lying everywhere.

Everyone watched in horror.

"What's going on down there Ryoga-san?" Fuji calmly asked.

"That is The Renewal. It was a war about eight years ago, in your time." Ryoga stated sadly. "This is what made Chibisuke and myself go and live on earth. Come on, I want to show you why it happened."

Ryoga slowly turned to the left and flew towards the castle. It was covered in flames and there was an eruption of smoke. The regulars followed.

"What do you mean 'our time', Ryoga-kun?" Inui asked while writing in his notebook.

"Time here goes by much faster than the time in you world." He replied.

As they got closer to the castle entrance, they noticed that there were figures fighting both in the sky and on the ground. The ones on the ground had bows and arrows, firing at the ones in the air.

"Won't they see us?" Taka asked.

"We are no more than future memories. They cannot see or hear us." Ryoga said, not even turning around to tell them. "We'll go through there." He pointed to a hole in the side of a tower.

They all landed safely in the tower and begun to walk down the steps.

"Uno, where are we going Ryoga-san?" Eiji asked looking at the interior of the castle walls.

"The Throne Room. That's where it happened." He replied, still not turning around and quickening his pace.

Oishi, feeling like something was wrong, caught up to Ryoga. As he approached, he noticed that Ryoga has a lite stream of tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Ryoga-kun, are you alright?" he asked sorrowfully.

Not noticing Oishi next to him, he was startled when he heard words spoken so close to himself.

He looked at Oishi and whipped his tears away. "Ah. It's just hard to relive painful memories." He said lowering his head trying to make the tears stop.

"We're here if you need us, Ryoga-kun." Oishi said placing his hand on Ryoga's shoulder and giving him a gentle smile.

Ryoga looked up at Oishi and smiled. "Thanks, Oishi-kun." He turned his head from Oishi and stopped. They were now standing in front of two great oak doors. "We're here."

He opened the doors and walked in. Everyone followed. The Throne Room was lavished with all sorts of beautiful colors and designs. Everyone gasped in amazement.

"Why is this room still intact?" Fuji asked.

"Just watch. You'll know soon enough." Ryoga replied.

After about a minute of waiting and hearing Eiji and Momo in the background marveling about everything in the room, there was a thud on the door. All the regulars jumped, including Tezuka, Fuji and Inui.

"It's begun. The final hour of our life in this palace."

Everyone looked at Ryoga, not daring to ask what he meant. They all turned their attention back to the door. There was another loud bang and then a body can flying threw.

"Denka*!" There were several shouts coming from the doorway the figure just flew from. As he slowly got to feet, the regulars got a look at his face.

It was Ryoga. He looked younger but it was still him. As he got up, everyone noticed he was holding a small child. Everyone gasped when they saw that the boy Ryoga was carrying was none other than little Echizen. He looked about four, same black hair with a tint of green, same golden eyes. That was their baby boy.

"Denka!" the shouts got louder and footsteps could be heard approaching. A cloaked figure came in and stood in front the boys but none of the voices that were heard belonged to him.

"Give me that boy." Growled the figure in front of them.

"Never! You'll have to kill me if you want the prince!" Ryoga shouted at the figure.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged." The figure said pulling off his cloak, letting it drop to the ground.

He pulled two daggers out of their holsters and charged at Ryoga. He dodged but not before he received a gash on his leg and forearm.

Ryoga shuddered as he watched this scene. It was painful enough to go through it once. He didn't want to have to relive it.

Oishi placed his hand on Ryoga's shoulder again and gave a weak smile. Ryoga nodded and continued to watch the scene.

Ryoga was now lying on the ground with a small puddle of blood forming around his arm and leg, Echizen still in his arms.

"Heh. Don't worry kid. I'll make it quick." The figure said as he stood over the boys. "You can still give me the boy. I'll only hurt you half as much as I was planning."

"Go fuck yourself." Ryoga said glaring at him.

"Not a smart move kid." He said as he prepared his daggers.

He was just about to stab Ryoga when he saw a sword go through the figure's chest.

"Shit." He said coughing up blood. "I guess I play with my pray too much." He collapsed and faded into shadows.

"Are you alright, Denka?" the angel in front of his asked, who was then followed by seven other.

Everyone gasped in surprise and horror and they looked at the figure in front of the young boys.

* * *

**Betcha didn't see that one coming. MWAHAHAHA! Ryoga has such dreadful language! I know this chapter is shorter than the others so far but, its late and I'm tired. I know. You hate me. I hate cliffhangers too but it makes you want to stay and see what happens next. What will happen when the regulars find out about their past? Find out whenever I post the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who has been doing all the fun things. Keep it up!**

**Korehanani jigokudesu- what the hell is this?, whats happening?**

**Subarashi- cool, amazing, awesome**

**Denka- you highness, your majesty**

**One more time, sorry for punctuation, grammar, misspellings, hard to understand things. If you need anything clarified, just ask!**


	5. Horrorible Memories

**Back yet again! I hope that everyone has enjoyed the story thus far. Hopefully, it's been suspenseful and joyful for everyone. I'm not sure how the rest of this week will go. I've got an essay to write…ewwwww… and I'm going laser tagging with my friends on Saturday. I'll try to get out as many as possible before Saturday comes.**

**I'm getting tired of saying this; I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis… only the things that I'm making them do.**

**I was listening to Ozzy Osborne's **_**Fire in the Sky **_**(I don't own that either) as I wrote this. If you read the last like 20 lines of the previous chapter and continue reading into this one, it totally sets the mood :3 Music is the biggest inspiration in my life o**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

He was just about to stab Ryoga when he saw a sword go through the figure's chest.

"Shit." He said coughing up blood. "I guess I play with my pray too much." He collapsed and faded into shadows.

"Are you alright, Denka?" the angel in front of his asked, who was then followed by seven other.

Everyone gasped in surprise and horror and they looked at the figure in front of the young boys.

* * *

It was like they were looking into a mirror that can show the future even though they were in the past.

"What the hell is this?" Momo asked, his voice quaking as he pointed to the figures in front of them.

They were looking at older versions of themselves, from the past, all dressed in armor laced with silver and a beautiful set of wings, all of different colors.

"Denka, are you alright?" shouted the seemingly identical mother hen of the future.

Oishi stood there, dumbfounded. The older version of him looked like he was in his thirties. His hair was about the only difference. It was up but could be guessed that it went down to the middle of his back. The wings on his back looked like the sea. They were a light shade of teal and were glowing.

"Of course he's not okay Shuichiro. He's gushing blood out of this arm and leg." Takeshi said shouting over his shoulder as he shut the door.

Momo was too stunned to speak. His future **(past?) **self had slightly longer hair with a shade of navy blue in it. His left eye had a long scar over it and he was holding a pure white long sword. His wings were a slightly lighter shade of blue apart from his hair.

**(For the sake of trying not to confuse, the regulars we all know and love will be referred to as Tezuka, Momo, Kaidou, Taka, Oishi, Inui, Fuji, Ryoma and Eiji and their older selves will be known by their other names)**

Shuichiro gave him an 'I know that much, you idiot' look as he started to tend to Ryoga's wounds.

"Is the Prince alright?" Syuusuke asked, looking at the young boy in Ryoga's arms.

Fuji's eyes popped open. His doppelganger's eyes were also open but they were not the icy shade of blue that Fuji's were. They were a dark shade of magenta and also unlike Fuji; they stayed open and shut at critical moments. His hair was shorter and black. His wings were crimson and he was holding twin short swords.

"Ah. He's –_itai_- fine." Ryoga said as Shuichiro was bandaging him. "He can sleep through anything." He looked around, "Where are the King and Queen?"

Everyone flinched.

"We found them slaughtered in their room." Kawamara said looking at the floor and cursing under his breath.

Taka took a step back. The other's hair was bright red and spiked which made it almost look like fire. His wings were golden and shined as the light hit them. He knelt on the ground and punched it as hard as he could.

"KUSO*" he shouted.

Ryoga shuddered and held Ryoma closer to him.

"There's nothing we can do to change it now! We have to focus at the matter at hand." yelled Kaoru.

Kaidou nearly fainted. His hair was the longest. It was tied up with a purple ribbon but still went down to the end of his back. His eyes were a baby blue and matched the two short swords he was carrying. His wings maroon and folded closed on his back.

"We should have been ready for anything. All the research I've gathered can't be wrong." said a familiar voice.

Inui looked up from his notebook. He saw someone with orange hair and eyes with nothing blocking them. They were a beautiful hazel, matching the wings behind him. He pulled out a piece of parchment.

"With all the training we've done we shou-"

"Well we didn't, did we?" interrupted an angry cat like angel pulling the parchment was from Sadaharu.

Eiji jumped. There was an angry Kikumaru, completely opposite of the happy-go-lucky Eiji we all love. His hair was dark gold and his eyes a deep blue. His wings were a dark pink and fluttered with his rage.

"If we could have, then why didn't we? What was stopping us from doing something different?" shouted Kikumaru.

"Calm down Kikumaru!" shouted the shirei-kan* of the group.

Tezuka almost stopped his breathing. There he was. It looked like he could have been Tezuka's father. He had the same dirty blonde hair and same indifferent face but it looked calmer. The wings on his back were pure white and fully extended when he addressed his troops.

"Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Kaoru is right; we must focus on the matter at hand."

With all the shouting that had been going on, Ryoma had woken up.

"Onii-san." he said in the cutest voice you could ever imagine.

Everyone stopped arguing and looked at the young prince.

"What is it Chibisuke?" Ryoga asked.

"It's really loud in here."

Ryoga let out a small chuckle. "I know Chibisuke. We'll try to be quieter."

Ryoma looked at everyone in the room at everyone and they all gave him a weak, guilty smile.

"All of the big onii-sans are here. Where are Mama and Papa?"

The smile on Ryoga's face quickly disappeared, as did all the smiles in the room. He placed his arms round Ryoma and hugged him.

"Chibisuke, the King and Queen are-"

There was a loud explosion from where Takeshi was, sending him flying back towards the group. Luckily, he landed on Kaoru.

"MINNA! QUICKLY FORM A BARRIER AROUND THE PRINCES!" Kunimitsu shouted.

They all formed a circle around Ryoma and Ryoga. Something was thrown into the room and it rolled straight to the middle with the two boys and exploded but not before Ryoga had grabbed Ryoma and covered him with his wings. They were thrown back and crashed into Kikumaru.

"Denka!" they all shouted in unison.

"We're fine. Kikumaru caught us." Ryoga said, coughing from the smoke.

"Are you sure you're okay Ryoga-sama?" Kikumaru said as he sat up, coughing from the smoke.

"Yeah. Are you okay?"

"Ah. I little fall like that can't hurt me."

"Good." he replied getting off of his lap. "Oi Chibisuke, are you alright?"

"Your tight hugs hurt Onii-san." Ryoma said pushing himself away from Ryoga's chest.

"Warui*. I'll be more careful next time." he said with a small smile.

Ryoma managed to escape Ryoga's grasp and ran up to Takeshi and hid behind his legs. Takeshi felt something grab onto his leg and looked down to see the prince holding it and looking at him with a smile.

"He did always seem to like all of you better than me." Ryoga said with a hint of jealousy in his voice as he walked to catch up to Ryoma.

Takeshi knelt down and ruffled the prince's hair. "He's such a cute kid."

Ryoma just kept smiling as his hair got ruffled. He looked at Takeshi but then to the doorway.

"Ah!" he said pointing to the figure standing at the edge of the room. "Oji-san*."

Everyone looked at the figure. It was no one that they recognized and were wondering how Ryoma knew him.

Ryoga bent down to Ryoma.

"Chibisuke, who is that? How do you know him?"

Ryoma's eyes started to glass over with tears. "Oji-san made Karupin go away." He started to cry. "He chased Karupin into the forest and Karupin never came back." He ran into Ryoga's arms and started sobbing.

"Karupin hasn't been around for the past couple of days." Ryoga said picking Ryoma up while hugging him.

"You there," Kunimitsu started. "Who are you?"

The figure didn't say anything.

"Answer or I'll make you." Kaoru yelled pointing a sword at him.

The figure looked up. Still no reply.

"Teme!" Kikumaru said as he drew his sword. The rest followed his example. Kunimitsu, Syuusuke, Sadaharu and Takeshi had long swords. Kaoru, Shuichiro, Kawamara and Kikumaru had twin short swords and daggers.

The figure continued to stare at them. He held up his arm and pointed to Ryoma and then formed his hand into a fist.

"We'll never hand the prince over to you, you bastard!" Ryoga shouted, clutching Ryoma harder, who was still sobbing.

The figure lowered his arm, looked up and let out a long sigh. Wings had emerged on his back. They were nothing like everyone else's. His wings were pitch black.

Everyone gasped as his wings appeared.

"I-It's you." Kawamara stuttered. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He didn't answer but disappeared in the blink of an eye. Before anyone could shout where he went, he appeared in front of Ryoga.

He gasped.

"I'll take the prince now." He hissed.

Everyone turned around to see him standing behind them. But it was too late. He grabbed Ryoma out of his brother's arms. Ryoga, trying to get him back, was kicked in the stomach, launching him backwards into the wall.

"Ryoga-sama!" everyone shouted. Shuichiro ran over to him.

Ryoga was trying to stand up and get his breath back but started coughing up blood.

"YOU BASTARD!" Kikumaru, Takeshi, Kawamara and Kaoru shouted as the lunged toward him.

The figure held a dagger up to the prince's neck. "I will kill him."

They all stopped in their tracks.

"You coward." They said.

Ryoma and stopped struggling and started to cry again.

"Karupin." He quietly sobbed. "Karupin!"

The figure heard him sobbing for his companion. "Your little friend is dead. I killed him when he ran into the forest."

Ryoma started struggling again and crying even louder.

"Cut it out you brat." The figure said moving the dagger closer to his neck but Ryoma didn't care. He started to scream.

"KARUPIN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

A bright light erupted from him, forcing the figure to let go. Ryoma's wings had emerged. They _were_ the color of the sun. He dropped to the ground and shouted again.

"I WANT KARUPIN BACK!"

The figure was getting tired of his screaming. He lunged at Ryoma, dagger in hand.

"I told you to SHUT UP!"

Ryoma shouted again. "KARUPIN!"

There was a crash from the ceiling and a big furry creature dashed in front of Ryoma and smacked the figure into the wall.

Ryoma looked up with his teary eyes and saw is fluffy companion standing in front of him.

"KARUPIN!" he yelled as he leaped on the cat's back.

Karupin turned his head and licked Ryoma's face.

"I missed you so much!" He said sobbing into the fur.

"Denka!" everyone shouted running towards him. "Are you okay?"

Ryoma just continued to sob into Karupin's fur.

Ryoga, supported by Shuichiro, limped over to Ryoma. "Chibisuke, are you okay?"

Ryoma turned around and ran to his brother.

"Onii-san! Karupin came back!" he said happily sobbing in his brother's chest. "I'm so… happy." He collapsed onto Ryoga's chest and his wings disappeared.

"Oi Chibisuke!"

"He's fine." Sadaharu said. "He's just tired."

Ryoga looked at his brother and sighed.

"Thank God." He collapsed onto Shuichiro.

They all stared at the young princes and forgot that they were in the middle of a battle. They looked so peaceful lying there, not having a care or worry. Just sleeping peacefully.

They all snapped out of their daydream when they heard the figure start laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! THIS IS TURNING OUT TO BE INTERESTING!" he said with maniacal laughter. "I guess I'll just have to kill everyone!"

They all formed another circle around the princes. Kunimitsu looked at everyone and nodded. They were thinking the same thing.

'_We can't beat him if we have to protect them. Minna, ready?'_

They all extended their winds and pulled a feather from the same spot. Ryoma and Ryoga had been placed onto Karupin's back. They all threw the feathers so they were directly over the princes and began to chant.

'O Guardian of Space, Keeper of Galaxies. Grant us the power to remove these innocents from the tragic war of our world. I, Kunimitsu/Shuichiro/Takeshi/Kawamara/ Kikumaru/Sadaharu/Syuusuke/Kaoru, ask you now to take these innocent souls and send them to a place they cannot be found: Wane.'

Ryoma had woken up just in time to see himself, Ryoga and Karupin engulfed in a white light.

"Onii-sans?" he questioned in a scared tone.

Everyone just looked at him and smiled, their eyes beginning to glass over.

"Onii-sans!"

They all gave him one last smile and then turned away to fight the figure.

"ONII-SANS!"

Everywhere became white and the next thing the regulars knew, they were sitting back at Echizen's kitchen table. Tears were pouring down their faces.

* * *

**So, was that a tear jerker or what? It made me so sad when I wrote the last few lines. Who should I have the black-winged angel be? Who knew that Echizen's past was so sad? Does this chapter make up for the previous one? Did I sense a little favoritism between Echizen and Momo? Sometimes I wish that these stories were true. They would be so awesome. You know the drill. Review and critique. Sad music really does make you write sad stories but music is good inspiration!**

**I hope everyone like it! It might take a little longer to update now. This was as far as the story line went in my head. Hopefully I'll get good ideas soon!**

**I'm still not sure if Karupin is a girl or boy so sorry if I'm wrong but I will not change. So if he turns out to be a she, you guys need to live with it :D**

**Thanks everyone who has been reviewing and subscribing. You guys rock! See you next chapter!**

**Kuso- damn it, shit**

**Shirei-kan- commander**

**Warui- sorry, my bad**

**Oji-san- uncle, old man**

**Thanks again everyone! I love you all!**


	6. Truth About Your Past

**Hey guys! WHAAAA! I have a lot of energy right now. I don't think that there will be any pairing or yaoi based relationships. I know, sad day. Right now, the only major (sort of) pairing will be Echizen and Momo. There will be other very minor pairings with everyone else. There will be brotherly love. Not like incest or anything but the normal love between brothers.**

**Depending on how this chapter goes, there may not be one for at least a day or so. Hopefully, I'll get inspired by something :P I'll try not to make this chapter as depressing as the last one.**

**I'm getting really tired of saying this: I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis or any other references, being from other anime/manga/video games or whatnot. I do however own the stupid things I'm going to make them do.**

**If anyone has any ideas they would like to share or see happen, tell me and I will try to incorporate them into the story best I can. **

**Here's chapter 6. Enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone just looked at him and smiled, their eyes beginning to glass over.

"Onii-sans!"

They all gave him one last smile and then turned away to fight the figure.

"ONII-SANS!"

Everywhere became white and the next thing the regulars knew, they were sitting back at Echizen's kitchen table. Tears were pouring down their faces.

* * *

Everyone was staring at the table, watching as their tears formed small puddles on top of it. Ryoga was the only one not crying as hard as everyone else but tears were still rolling down his face none the less.

"I'm sorry that you all had to see that." Ryoga said wiping the tears from his eyes and cheeks.

"No, it's fine." Tezuka said removing his glasses and wiping his eyes. "Even if we didn't want to see it, it will help us understand what kind of situation Echizen is in."

"What… was that, exactly?" Inui asked, rubbing his eyes.

"That was the day the royal family was cast out of the angel world. The Renewal was originally a ceremony to announce the next heir to the throne, which was Chibisuke."

"Why Echizen and not you?"

"I have no royal blood in my veins. I'm only Chibisuke's half-brother. The King and Queen adopted me when my father was killed."

Everyone slowly looked up, their faces red from tears.

"If you don't mind, may I ask how he died?" Oishi asked.

"It's nothing to be sad about. He died saving Chibisuke." He replied with a small smile. "My father was one of the King's personal guards. There had been a lot of attempts on the King's life, so he upped his security. My father had been summoned to the throne room and while making his way there, he passed Chibisuke's room and noticed there was someone in the room. He checked it out and it turned out to be an assassin."

He lowered his head some, trying not to show the tears in his eyes.

"I would normally go to play with Chibisuke when I had some time on my hands. I was a cleaning boy. When I arrived there, father was propped up against the wall, coated in blood, with Chibisuke in his arms. Naturally, I ran to him and asked what had happened. He pointed to the assassin lying dead at the other corner of the room. All I could do was cry."

He started to sob.

"He… we heard footsteps. Apparently, Father had kept the King waiting and he had people sent for him. They heard my sobs and entered the room to see me crying over my father. They tried all they could do to save him but…" Ryoga trailed off and started to cry.

Everyone was so entranced by the story that they did not notice that there had been a figure standing in the doorway. He walked to where Ryoga was sitting and hugged him from the back of the chair.

"People never die as long as you hold them in your heart." Echizen said in the most caring voice, lowering his head and resting it on his brother's shoulder.

Ryoga placed his arm around Echizen's head and pulled it closer.

"Yeah. Thanks Chibisuke." He said as a slight smile had crept onto his face.

"Ochibi!" Eiji shouted as he ran to Echizen and hugged him.

Echizen had let go of Ryoga just in time or he might have been included in the death hug.

"Ochibi's past! It's so sad! You can always confine in your sempai if you ever need to talk about anything!" he cried into Echizen's hair.

"Ah! Echizen, you can confine in me too!" Momo shouted as he joined the hug.

"Echizen, how are your wounds?" Oishi asked in a concerned voice.

Remembering that he was injured, Eiji and Momo immediately let go.

"Gomen Ochibi!"

"Echizen, are you alright?"

"I'm fine sempai." He said trying to get his breath back.

"What about your injuries?"

"I'm fine sempai."

"Fsshhh… how could you be with those kinds of wounds?" hissed Kaidou.

"There's no way that you could be fine with your body injured that badly." Taka added.

Echizen sighed, took off his shirt and unrolled the bandages to revel that his injuries had healed and all that were left were light scars.

"They're healed but still sore."

Everyone, except Ryoga, looked in amazement.

"How is that possible?" Inui asked pulling out his notebook and quickly scribbling in it.

Echizen smirked. "I thought that you would understand after what you just saw, Inui-sempai. What Ryoga let you see was indeed the truth. I am an angel," He looked at everyone "And you guys are too."

They all stared at him with disbelief.

"Bwahahaha!" Momo burst out laughing. "Echizen, you can't be serious. How can we be angels?"

Echizen sighed then turned and walked towards the back door and opened it. Wings slowly materialized on his back.

"You saw the figures in Ryoga's memory right? It's no coincident that they had your appearance and name." He turned to look at Momo. "They were your ancestors, Momo-sempai."

"Saa, how is that possible Echizen? Wouldn't we know if we were angels?" Fuji questioned.

"It's hard to explain Fuji-sempai." He replied scratching his head. "Follow me to the tennis court."

They all nodded and followed Echizen to the court behind his house. **(Sorry if that's not where it is. I'm actually not too sure where it is)**

The sun was beginning to go down and it was getting dark. Once there, Echizen had everyone stand on the edge of the court, about an arm's length apart. Oishi was on one end, next to him was the Inui, then Eiji, followed by Taka, Fuji, Tezuka, Momo and on the other end was Kaidou.

"Nya Ochibi, why did we come outside? It's cold." Eiji complained.

"I don't want any glitter inside the house." They all looked at him then each other with confused faces. "Aniki."

Ryoga nodded and spread his own wings. He plucked a feather, whispered a spell and then threw it above the regulars. They all marveled at the light that shined off of it. Echizen then extended his wings and flapped so that a golden dust whipped past the others.

They all cover their eyes and when they opened them up, nothing had changed, except for the fact that they were covered in a fine layer of gold dust.

"Oi Echizen, what was the point of this? All it did was us cover in glitter." Momo said trying to brush the tiny specks of gold off his shirt.

"Look behind you Momo-sempai."

Momo turned his head to look over his shoulder. He saw light navy blue feathers behind him. His mouth dropped open.

"How did you do that Echizen? Is there a projector or something around here?"

Echizen sighed, walked over to his sempai, grabbed a hold of about three feathers and pulled really hard.

"ITAI! What the hell Echizen?"

"How can it be a projector if you can feel pain, Momo-sempai?" he said with a smirk.

Momo had an 'I guess he's right' look on his face. Ryoga tried to stop his snickering.

All the other regulars turned around to discover that they had wings too and they were just like the ones in Ryoga memory. Oishi's were a caring teal, Fuji's were the same shade of challenging magenta, Taka's matched the gold dust covering his person, Kaidou's were secretive maroon, Inui's hazel feathers made him take out his notebook, Eiji's were an energetic dark pink and Tezuka's were as white as snow.

They were all marveling and trying to comprehend how it was possible. All of what Echizen had said was true. They were angels. They had the wings to prove it.

"How can a projection do this?" Echizen asked as he flapped his wings and hovered about a foot off the ground for about a minute and then came back down.

The light from Ryoga's feather flickered and as soon as the light from feather had faded, the eight pairs of wings had disappeared.

"What happened?" Tezuka asked.

Echizen and Ryoga had put their wings away. Echizen had motioned for the regulars to follow him back inside.

"Our spell wore off." He said in an 'it should have been obvious' tone as he walked into the house. "Since all of you were born in this world, you cannot use your powers and wings yet."

They entered the house and gathered in the family room. **(Living room, TV room, whatever you want to call it)**

"Saa, what do you mean 'yet' Echizen?"

"You were all born in this world but you hold the souls of your ancestors within. You need to learn to harness and control your power before you can use it properly. Everyone has their own way of revealing their wings." He stretched his own out again. "I don't remember what I did for mine to finally appear but I know that it was when I was very little."

They all looked to Ryoga, Echizen included.

Ryoga's eyes popped open, he then smiled, shook his head and shrugged, indicating he didn't know how Echizen's wings came about.

"They were already out when I met you Chibisuke."

"Oh well." Echizen shrugged.

They had all kept talking until it got rather late **(for junior high kids, my mom considered this late)**. The clock was going on 9:30.

"It's getting pretty late. Since tomorrow's Saturday, why don't you all spend the night?" Ryoga suggested in a cheery tone. "I wouldn't want to be responsible for such nice looking young men like yourselves walking home at this time of night with the possibility of any of you getting kidnapped or raped, now would I?" he said in an even cheerier voice with a great smile on his face.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"That's a good idea, ne, Chibisuke?"

He turned to Echizen to see him asleep with his head leaning on Momo's shoulder with Karupin curled up in his lap and Momo in turn doing the same to Echizen.

"I guess that Momoshiro-kun will be staying." Ryoga said going to the closet to get extra blankets. "How about the rest of you?"

The rest of the regulars agreed. They all went out of the room and contacted their parents to tell them that they would be staying at a friend's house for the night. They all still had their bags from school, which contained their books, tennis equipment and change of clothes.

When they had all settled down, Ryoga announced that if they needed anything to not hesitate to wake him or Echizen up. They bid each other good night when to sleep.

Ryoga had stepped to the doorway, shut off the light and looked back on the room full of tennis players.

'_They really do look like angels.'_

* * *

**Annnnnd… done! Well? Well? How was it? At least it wasn't as depressing as the previous one. The first half maybe but not the second. It was hard for me to write about Ryoga talking about his past with his father. It made me so sad!**

**There is a possibility that there will be no new chapter tomorrow. I'm going to spend the day with some friend and I don't know when I'll be back. I have confidence in myself to get it done, **_**if**_** I'm not too tired.**

**I'm planning on doing trials for everyone to get their wings (sound like they're in the military). Would you rather have lots of small chapters detailing what happened to them (only one regular at a time with Echizen) or a long chapter where everyone is together, facing their problems as a team? Help me with this! The sooner I get answers, the soon I update!**

**Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and criticizing! It does help! I want to give special thanks to **_**MintLeafeon**_** for reviewing every chapter. I LOVE YOU! THANKS SO MUCH! 3**

**One more time, sorry for any grammatical, spelling, punctuation, misspellings or anything else that I missed. I'm not as awake when I reread it.**

**Hope everyone liked this chapter… now I'm off to do dishes, joy.**


	7. In the Morning

**Next chapter go! Hello everyone! Okay, I've got a few ideas for what's going to happen for the next couple of chapters. Since no one seems to care about their trial thingys, with an exception, I'm just going to make them happen as a group. I had planned to do that from the start but I wanted some input. **

**I'm not saying it again. Echizen, you say it.**

'**Ossu. She DOES NOT own me or my friends.'**

**Sorry in advance if these chapter are sort of short. I'm still not completely sure what to do for their tests.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

When they had all settled down, Ryoga announced that if they needed anything to not hesitate to wake him or Echizen up. They bid each other good night when to sleep.

Ryoga had stepped to the doorway, shut off the light and looked back on the room full of tennis players.

'_They really do look like angels.'_

* * *

The night went by smoothly. Kaidou was hissing in his sleep, Momo was drooling and dreaming about food, Taka was whispering burning, Eiji dreamed he got a new toothbrush, Inui kept muttering '_Ii data'_ and Fuji, Tezuka and Oishi were sleeping peacefully.

The sun was just now starting to come up. Ryoga awoke and ventured down stairs to check on the teammates. He couldn't help but chuckle. Tezuka, Inui and Fuji were the only ones who were in their original sleeping positions. Eiji was curled up like a cat next to Oishi, in turn pushing him off of his futon to the floor; Momo had his legs draped over Kaidou, who had Karupin sleeping on top of him and Taka was bunched up in a ball under his covers. Ryoga looked to Echizen's sleeping area to notice that it was empty and the back door was cracked open.

He looked though the crack to discover that Echizen was sitting on the porch staring at the sky.

"Chibisuke?" he asked with a hint of concern and curiosity in his voice. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

Echizen lowered his head but kept quiet. Ryoga took a seat next to him.

"Oi Chibisuke, what's wrong?" he places a hand on his shoulder. "You're freezing! How long have you been out here?"

"About an hour." he said apathetically.

"What? Are you telling me that you actually got up an hour ago? The sun just started to rise. It's barely 6:15." **(Sorry if that's not the right time for the sun to come up)**

Echizen stayed quiet.

"What's bugging you Chibisuke? You would never be caught up this early. What's wrong?"

Echizen looked back to the sky. "It's the same night."

"What do you mean Chibisuke?"

"It's just like the night before. Before everything changed."

Ryoga gave a started look then turned his head to the sky.

"It does look similar doesn't it?"

"I'm scared Aniki." He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. "I don't want our past to repeat itself."

Ryoga pulled his little brother closer to him.

"Nothing's going to happen. I won't let it."

"I'm worried." He sank his head into his knees. "They shouldn't be involved. It isn't right."

"They're angels Chibisuke. They would have gotten involved sooner or later."

"But… they don't know anything. What if they get attacked?"

"They're strong boys. And besides, you'll be with them."

"But what happens when I'm not? I don't want the death of even more people to be my fault." He lowered his head even more and started to cry.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you were not responsible for any of what happened that day."

"But… they were after me. It's all because of me. Why did I have to be born a prince?" he bawled. "They all died trying to protect me!"

"Chibisuke… they died protecting you, not because you were the prince. They died because they all loved you. They didn't care if you were royalty. They protected you because you were part of their family. You had become one of the most important people in their lives… and my life too."

Echizen lifted his tear stained face to look at Ryoga.

"I love you because you're my little brother. I don't care that you came from a royal family. The moment I laid my eyes on you, I wanted to protect you. I didn't care if you were rich or poor. I will protect you at all costs. And that is what everyone else probably thought too."

Ryoga got up and opened the door so that Echizen could see all the regulars, still asleep in the living room.

"They're still with you. Even in death, they still protect you. If they only protected you because you're a prince, would they have stayed, watching over you this whole time?"

He shut the door again and hugged Echizen from behind.

"As long as you keep them in your heart, they never die, right?"

Echizen let a small smile creep on his face. He turned to his brother and hugged him in return then turned back to face the sky. The sun was creeping higher.

"Today's going to be a good day."

They both went back inside. Echizen went straight to his room and changed into dark jean shorts that stopped at his knees, a short sleeved t-shirt and a stripped sleeve-less hoodie.

Ryoga was sitting at the table peeling an orange.

"Where are you going?" he asked popping an orange slice into his mouth.

"To the grocery store."

"Why now?"

"I don't think that everyone would care for what is left in the refrigerator."

Ryoga got up and opened the refrigerator door.

"There's nothing here."

"Exactly."

Echizen got his wallet and placed the money his mother left for him in it.

"Ittekimasu*." He said as he opened the front door and shut it behind him.

Ryoga smirked and placed another orange slice in his mouth.

"Itterasshai*… little brother."

* * *

It was a little past 7:30 and the sun was brightly shining in on the regulars. They all slowly started waking up, remembering that they had slept over at Echizen's house. Taka was the first to wake up, followed by Inui, then Tezuka, Fuji, Oishi, Eiji and Kaidou. When everyone was saying their 'good mornings', they noticed that Momo was still asleep.

"Should we let him sleep longer?" Oishi asked to no one in particular.

"Wake him up." Tezuka said.

"Saa, how should we?" Fuji asked with a sadistic smile.

"Fsshhh… dump water on him." Kaidou said as he pet Karupin.

"There is a 100% chance that that would wake him and a 100% that it would get water on all of Echizen's blankets."

"Fsshhh…"

"Ah! I know!" Eiji said jumping from his spot.

He had gone to his tennis bag, grabbed a racket and handed it to Taka.

"GREAT-O! MOMOSHIRO! IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED!"

Momo jumped from where he had been sleeping, hit his head against something and fell back down.

"Itai!" he said rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for sempai?"

"We needed you to wake up." Oishi said.

"I don't think that you needed to take such drastic measures." He looked around the room. "Where's Echizen?"

"In the kitchen Momo-sempai." Everyone heard Echizen call from the other room.

They all ventured to the kitchen to see Echizen over the stove making pancakes. **(I don't know what they would normally eat for breakfast, so I put what I eat when I have friends over)**

"Ohayou sempai-tachi." Echizen said while flipping over a pancake.

"Ohayou Echizen." They all said.

"Ochibi, where did you learn to cook?" Eiji asked peering over his shoulder

"Since Oyaji and Okaa-san are often gone and Nanako left to study abroad, I had to learn otherwise I would have starved." he replied as he flipped over another pancake. "Feel free to bathe. Breakfast won't be done for at least another twenty minutes." He motioned towards the hall, spatula in hand. "Second door on the right and across from my room upstairs." **(Sorry if that's not how his house is but that's how it is in this story)**

They all talked amongst themselves for minute until it was decided that Tezuka and Inui were to claim the bathrooms first. Inui took the one on the first floor and Tezuka the one on the second.

They rest of the regulars were busy annoying Echizen. 'Trying to help' as they put it. Momo and Kaidou were arguing about when Echizen should flip the pancakes, Eiji was hanging on him, Oishi was making sure that Echizen didn't get burnt, Taka was looking for ingredients to make sushi and Fuji kept trying to put wasabi into the pancake batter.

A vein on Echizen's forehead popped.

"OUT!" he shouted as he pushed his sempai-tachi out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Karupin, don't let any of them in." he said as he picked up his cat and placed him at the entrance of the kitchen.

They all looked at the cat.

"Haha! What does he take us for?" Momo laughed as he made his way back towards the kitchen door. "Oi Echiz-" he was cut off as Karupin leaped onto his face.

"GAAAH!" he shouted in pain and surprise.

"I think that Momo forgot that Karupin isn't a normal cat." Eiji said hiding behind Oishi.

"Good boy Karupin. You'll get an extra helping of fish for dinner." Echizen said, not even bothering to turn from the stove.

While everyone was laughing at Momo, who was getting his face clawed off, Fuji made his way back to the kitchen doorway.

"Echizen," he started, "How often are you left by yourself?"

Echizen stopped what he was doing but didn't turn to face him.

"It's okay; I've grown use to it." He continued making breakfast.

Fiji's eyes opened slightly. "Echizen, how long are you left by yourself?"

"It's a week at least. The longest has been about six."

Fuji's eyes opened wider and he took a step towards Echizen.

"Do mean to tell me that your parents-" he was cut short.

"Those people aren't my parents." interrupted Echizen with a little tone of hatred in his voice.

Fuji took another step towards him.

"What do you mean Echizen?"

* * *

Tezuka had just gotten out of the bathroom and was going to return to everyone down stairs when he noticed that Echizen's door was open. He peaked his head in and saw Ryoga sitting on the bed twirling around a feather.

"Uno…" he started.

"You're curious, aren't you?" Ryoga asked releasing the feather, letting it fall to the floor and disappear.

"About what?" Tezuka asked.

"How we came to live in this world."

Ryoga pulled Echizen's desk chair and motioned for Tezuka to sit.

* * *

**It made me so sad to write their moment of brotherly love. I wish my brother was like that. Anyways, hope you liked it! **

**I decided that if I have a chapter done, I'll usually update at around midnight. Soooo… now you know.**

**If anyone has any ideas for what should happen to everyone for their trials or how they get their wings, it would be GREATLY appreciated. I've kinda got writer's block. **

**Don't forget to do all the fun things!**

**Ittekimasu- I'm leaving, I'm going**

**Itterasshai- please go and come back, come back soon**

**Sorry for my horrible mistakes that I know I probably missed.**

**I look forward to seeing you****... I look forward to hearing from you! See you next time!**


	8. How We Got Here

**Back once again! I'm sorry to say that I have been visited by Mr. Procrastination and he told me not to do anything. But I was like 'Suck it Mr. Procrastination!' and started on the next chapter.**

**I have some ideas but am having a bit of a rough time trying to incorporate them into the story so that it won't seem awkward. Hopefully I succeed. We'll just have to see how it goes.**

**I would say that I am the owner Prince of Tennis if I actually was but… I'm not so I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**For the sake of me not having to explain it later, the most part of this chapter will be Echizen and Ryoga telling the same story to Tezuka and Fuji. It will start with Ryoga telling Tezuka then switch to Echizen telling Fuji. And it will go back and forth for a little while. Hopefully, this won't confuse anyone.**

**Have fun!**

* * *

"You're curious, aren't you?" Ryoga asked releasing the feather, letting it fall to the floor and disappear.

"About what?" Tezuka asked.

"How we came to live in this world."

Ryoga pulled Echizen's desk chair and motioned for Tezuka to sit.

"You saw what happened. All those years ago, the day that Chibisuke and I were sent here." Ryoga started as Tezuka took his seat. "That's no mystery. We were sent here by your ancestors. You saw it."

Tezuka nodded, recalling what he saw a day earlier.

* * *

"Do you remember Fuji-sempai? Your ancestors cast the three of us out of the angel world."

Fuji nodded. "Saa, but that doesn't give you any reason for hating your par-" he stopped when Echizen glanced at him. "- the people you're living with right now."

"I never said that I hate them but..."

* * *

**Flashback with alternating Echizen and Ryoga narrating- Ryoga start**

I woke up that day in a foreign place. Everywhere I looked, there was green. The last time I saw our home it was engulfed in fire. I found myself lying on the grass in a park. I noticed Chibisuke was sitting with his back turned to me. My arm and leg still sore, I made my way over to him to see him holding Karupin and quietly sobbing.

"Hey Chibisuke, what happened?" I asked trying to comfort him. "Where are we?"

"Big onii-sans sent us away." Ryoma said between sobs. "I want to see them again."

My heart skipped a beat when he told me that we had been cast away. I heard of magic that could cast away your enemy to the farthest parts of the land but to remove you from the world completely? It's ridiculous.

* * *

He reassured me that we could get back home soon and that I would be able to see them again. I sort of knew that that was a lie but it gave me hope and made me feel better. I looked at him and smiled and he smiled in return until it was interrupted by a loud growl.

"I think that someone's hungry." Ryoga looked at me with a big smile. Then his stomach growled too.

"I think that you're hungry too onii-san." I giggled.

"Let's see what we can do about it."

* * *

We wondered around for a few hours looking for somewhere to eat. We didn't know anything. We didn't have any money. Soon we were approaching a candy shop. Chibisuke ran towards it only to be knocked over by a lady coming out of it.

"Oh my!" she started. "Are you okay little boy?"

"Chibisuke, are you alright?" I ran up to him and helped him up.

"Are you his brother? You look strikingly similar. Where are your parents?" she asked in a happy yet concerned voice.

I looked away, reluctant to answer.

"Mama and Papa are gone." to my surprise, Chibisuke answered. "A bad man came and now Mama and Papa are gone." He started to cry.

The lady looked at us with a shocked expression.

"Oh dear…" she was going to continue only to be interrupted by our stomachs.

* * *

"When was the last time the two of you had a warm meal?" We both looked down and held our stomachs. "How would you two like to come home with me? My name is Echizen Rinko. What are your names?" she asked with a smile.

We looked at her.

"I'm Ryoga and this is my little brother Ryoma." There was a meow. "And this is Karupin."

"Well, Ryoga-chan, Ryoma-chan, Karupin, my house isn't far. Come on. I'll make you your favorite meal."

She took us home, introduced us to Nanako and the old man and told them our story. We scarfed down our meal. It felt like we hadn't eaten in ages.

"Ne, how would you boys like to live here?" she asked as we started on our second helping. "I don't like the fact that two cute boys like you are out in this big world all by yourselves."

I looked at Ryoga with a smile and he gave me one in reply.

"If you wouldn't mind." He said with a slight blush.

"Good! Then it's settled." She said with a clap of her hands.

"Oi. Why do I get no say in this?" the old man said looking up from his plate.

"Why does it matter to you dear? You did wanted children didn't you? And we have spare bedrooms. This house is too big for only three people."

* * *

They two adults were too busy arguing to notice that Ryoma had fallen asleep and I wasn't that far from drifting off either. Nanako had told them to be quieter. They looked at her then at us and smiled. Rinko picked up Ryoma in her arms and took my hand.

"Come on." she whispered with a smile. "I'll make up a bed for you."

She guided us to a room and made us a bed and we gladly fell fast asleep.

**End of Flashback**

"That was about eight years ago and Chibisuke has been heresince."

Tezuka looked at the floor. "I see."

"To be honest, I'm glad that we came here. If we hadn't, Chibisuke wouldn't have met you guys." Ryoga turned to Tezuka. "Please keep watch over him."

"We will."

Ryoga got up and motioned for the door. "Come on. I bet that breakfast is ready."

* * *

"I've been here ever since."

"Saa, Echizen, shouldn't you be grateful that Rinko-san found you when she did?" Fuji asked.

"It's not that." Echizen snapped.

"Then what? Why do refuse to call them you parents?"

He paused. "…I feel like if I do then the same thing will happen."

"Echizen…"

"Until all of this is over, until I know that it's safe, they will not be my parents."

Fuji smiled and placed his hand on Echizen's shoulder. "You really care about them, don't you?"

"Ah."

"You know that you can always talk to any of us if you need to."

"Ah. Thanks Fuji-sempai." He let a smile slide across his face. "Would mind telling everyone that breakfast is ready?"

"Sure."

**Story is now continued with normal POV**

Fuji had got into the living room to see Tezuka and Ryoga coming down the stairs, Inui scribbling in his notebook and all the other regulars laughing.

In the time Fuji was in the kitchen, Momo kept trying to see what Echizen was doing. He ended up getting sat on by Karupin, who had changed into his larger self. Momo couldn't seem to get free and no one tried to help him from fear of being sat upon. Fuji couldn't help but chuckle.

"Minna, Echizen says breakfast is ready."

"Yah Hoi! I'm starving!" Eiji said jumping up and running to the other room.

"O-Oi! Someone help me!" Momo cried trying once more to get free. "Don't eat my share!"

Everyone ignored Momo's cries for help and went to the other room.

"Karupin! Breakfast!" he heard Echizen shout from the other room.

"Echizen. You're my savior!" Momo said with big tear-filled eyes.

"You can finish crushing him later. Come eat."

"Oi. What do you mean by that?"

Karupin shrunk down and ran to his food. Momo did the same as soon as he was free. He entered the dining room to see everyone eating without him.

"You started without me?" he gasped.

"We didn't think that you would escape and we didn't feel like waiting." Eiji said as he shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

He reluctantly took his seat, which was right next to where Echizen put Karupin's food. He gave the cat a glare. Karupin happily meowed in return.

Everyone was happily eating and chatting about things.

"Ochibi! These are delicious!"

"Eiji, don't talk with your full. You could choke. Not to mention it's rude."

"Fsshhh… they're not bad."

"Seconds please."

"Saa, I think that they would have been better if you let me add wasabi."

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Taka-san, pass the syrup."

"Echizen, according to my data, you put 1.3% too much flour."

"Next time, we'll have a sleep over at your house and you can make breakfast, Inui-sempai." Everyone laughed.

"Echizen," he began. "What did you mean when you said we need to learn how to harness and control our powers?"

"You need to discover a way to make your wings appear for the first time." He said placing his fork down. "Then you need to go through training to control your powers."

"How are we supposed to do that Ochibi?"

He looked at Ryoga with a smirk. "I have a few ideas."

* * *

**What could Echizen's ideas be? Who knows. I ask myself that. I need to think of events that could happen… At least this chapter wasn't as depressing as the other ones so far. It didn't make me cry at any parts. Sorry if the switching between POVs was confusing for anyone. **

**Sorry for any mistakes that I made. Please don't hate me. I'll do better next time!**

**Hope you liked it! If you want the chapter out fast, for the love of God, REVIEW! The only one keeping me going is **_**MintLeafeon.**_** - I love you. I don't want to have to be one of those people who starts a story and then stops without a words notice. Thanks to everyone who is reviewing.**

**Please review and criticize. See you next chapter! **


	9. Top of the School

**And, yet again, here I am. Hey guys. How's it going? Ummm… I really don't have anything to tell you guys this time. **

**I do sort of have writer's block. If you guys have ideas for what the trial thingys should be, please share. I need help. I'm looking for something that starts out funny but then gets serious when someone gets hurt or someone attacks Echizen. Something like that :D**

**If I have to say this one more time… I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Please read and review! I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate it. Everyone that has recently reviewed, **_**MintLeafeon, theanimerockz25, Elliona1, **_**thanks a bunch!**

**Well, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Everyone but Tezuka laughed.

"Echizen," he began. "What did you mean when you said we need to learn how to harness and control our powers?"

"You need to discover a way to make your wings appear for the first time." He said placing his fork down. "Then you need to go through training to control your powers."

"How are we supposed to do that Ochibi?"

He looked at Ryoga with a smirk. "I have a few ideas."

* * *

"WAAAH! I DON'T LIKE YOUR IDEAS OCHIBI!"

"You *grunt* need to let go Kikumaru-sempai!"

"YADDA!" Eiji shouted between his sobs. "Why do I have to go first?"

"You volunteered, *grunt* remember?"

* * *

**Flashback**

"_What do you mean Echizen?" Taka asked._

_Echizen looked at Ryoga and they both grinned._

_The next thing everyone knew, they were all in front of their school, Karupin included._

"_Uno, what are we doing here Echizen?" Oishi asked._

"_You'll see." was all Echizen said._

_They all made their way to the back of the school. When they got there, Echizen and Ryoga both spread their wings and pointed up._

"_We're going up there." Ryoga said._

"_Fsshhh… how are we supposed to get up there? The school's closed."_

_Echizen and Ryoga both took a feather and chanted a spell._

'_Gravity, release yourself. Make these souls as lite as air: Lift.'_

_They tossed the feathers at the regular's feet and they all became encased in a ball of light and floated to the school roof. Echizen and Ryoga flew up to join them leaving Karupin on the ground below. When they reached the roof, the balls of light popped._

"_Okay, who wants to go first?" Echizen asked as his feet touched the ground._

"_Nya, I will!" Eiji said._

"_Echizen, what are we doing up here exactly?" Inui asked scribbling in his notebook._

"_You'll see." He replied with a smirk. "Kikumaru-sempai, stand over there." He pointed to a spot near the fence._

"_Hai!" He sauntered to where Echizen had pointed to. "What am I doin-AHHH!" he was suddenly picked up by Echizen and flown over to where Karupin was below them. "NYA, OCHIBI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"_

"_I'm going to drop you." He said in an 'it should be obvious' voice._

"_NANI!"_

"_Don't worry. Karupin will catch you if your wings don't appear in time."_

_Tezuka turned to Ryoga. "What are they doing?"_

"_Chibisuke is trying to see if fear will initiate the appearance of you wings." He said with a smile. "This was originally a technique used by parents to help their kids get their wings faster."_

"_Why would they do something like that?" Momo questioned._

"_If a child didn't have their wings by seven years, they were considered weak and often picked on. Not to mention they couldn't do a lot of things without help from their parents."_

"_WAAAH!" they all looked to see that Echizen had dropped Eiji but he had clung to Echizen's legs._

* * *

**Flashback End**

"Kikumaru-sempai, if you do not *grunt* let go, then we will both fall!"

"That's better than me falling by myself!" He made his way up to Echizen's shoulders and hugged him for dear life. "I don't wanna die!"

"K-Kikumaru-sempai! C-Can't breathe!" Echizen choked.

But to no avail. His cries were drown out by Eiji's sobs and cries for help.

"Oishi! Get me down!"

"Eiji! You would have gotten down long ago if you had let go!" Oishi shouted through the fence.

"Yadda!" he squeezed Echizen's neck harder.

"Eiji! Let go! Echizen's turning blue!" Eiji couldn't hear.

"K-Kikumaru-semp…" Echizen trailed off as the lack of air finally caught up with him. His vision became clouded and he and Eiji began to drop.

"Echizen!"

"Eiji!"

Karupin heard the pleas of Echizen's companions and looked up. He saw Echizen and Eiji falling and transformed just in time to catch them before they hit the ground.

They safely landed on the ground. Eiji finally realized that they were on solid ground and let go of Echizen.

"Land! Solid land!" he shouted. "That wasn't so bad. Ochibi, let's go- Ah!" He had noticed that Echizen was breathing very hard and his face was a slight shade of blue. "Ochibi! What happened?" he asked completely dumbfounded that he was the one that made that happen.

"You did Kikumaru-sempai."

"Aaah! Gomen nasai! Gomen nasai!" he hastily said.

"I agree sempai." Echizen said rubbing his throat.

"Hm?" Eiji said coming up from a bow.

"We should go again." He replied with an evil smirk.

"EH?"

"Echizen! Eiji! Are you okay?" Everyone shouted from the top of the roof.

"Hai! We're fine sempai-tachi." He yelled back. "Karupin, take him back up there."

Eiji tried to run but Karupin caught him by his shirt collar and took him back to the top of the school, Eiji protesting the whole time.

Echizen had flown up beside them. "Okay, who's next?"

Everyone was reluctant to answer.

"Fsshhh, I'll go." Kaidou hissed.

"Yosh. Karupin, leave him here and get back down there."

Karupin released Eiji and went back down. Eiji immediately bolted for the door.

"You can't get escape that way Kikumaru-sempai. The school's locked. You have to drop." Echizen said walking towards Kaidou.

"Stupid door! Open up!" he started kicking it.

"Kikumaru. It you damage the school, you will run 100 laps and I will have Echizen drop several more times." Tezuka threatened.

He stopped kicking the door and went to sit in a corner.

Echizen grabbed hold of Kaidou and flew over to Karupin.

"Ready Kaidou-sempai?" he asked.

"Fsshhh."

"Try to visualize your wings emerging. That should help."

"Fsshhh."

Kaidou took a deep breath and was dropped. He visualized himself with wings but nothing happened. He kept trying to make his wings appear but still nothing happened. He was caught just before he hit the ground.

"Che." Kaidou scoffed as he got off of Karupin.

"Hmm…" Echizen scratched his head. "Who's next?"

* * *

It was the same for all the regulars. They had all been dropped but nothing happened.

'_Maybe we need to be at a higher level.'_ Echizen thought.

"Uno, Echizen," his thoughts were interrupted. "I need to get home. I promised my dad that I would help him in the shop today." Taka said rubbing his head.

"I also need to head home. I promised Yuuta that we could spend the day together." Fuji added.

It turned out that everyone except for Momo and Eiji had somewhere else to be.

"Hai. We can continue another da-." Echizen quickly looked behind him.

"What's wrong Echizen?" Tezuka asked.

"No, nothing." He said turning back toward the group. "We can continue another day if sempai-tachi need to head home."

"Luckily you still have us here to keep you company." Momo said slinging his arm around Echizen.

Everyone said their goodbyes and headed home.

* * *

After everyone had left, Momo, Eiji, Echizen, Ryoga and Karupin all headed to the park.

Echizen kept glancing over his shoulder every now and then.

"You feel it too Chibisuke?" Ryoga whispered.

"Ah. We're being followed." Echizen replied.

"It seems like no one is out today." Momo pointed out. "I haven't seen one person since we left the school."

"Now that you mention it, the streets have been kind of bare." Eiji added.

The sky had become dark when they reached the park and there was a cold breeze through out.

"There's not even one person here." Momo pointed out.

"How fortunate for them." They all heard a voice come out of nowhere.

Karupin had changed to his larger self and dashed towards some trees.

"Karupin!" Echizen shouted as he ran after him.

Before he knew it, Karupin had come crashing into him, sending them both crashing into a nearby tree causing Karupin to shrink back down.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Chibisuke!" they all shouted as they ran towards him.

"You should learn to keep you pet under control."

A figure had materialized from the shadows. He had spikey violet hair, dark brown eyes and wore a black shirt with the right sleeve remove and black pants with the left leg removed.

"Echizen, are you okay?" Momo asked with concern.

Echizen looked up at the figure and coughed up a bit of blood.

"You bastard." He said standing up and wiping the blood from his mouth. "Who are you?"

"My name is Hunter, my Prince." He said with a bow. "I have come to pick you up. The King requests your presents."

"What king?" he asked handing Karupin to Eiji.

"Oh, I forgot. You haven't been in the angel world. We have ourselves new King. You would know him as he black-winged angel."

All of their hearts skipped a beat.

"He took over when you had left."

Echizen unfurled his wings and disappeared.

"Ara? Where'd he go?" Hunter asked in a joking voice.

Echizen appeared in front of him and punched him back to a tree.

"I'm right here."

"Yare, Yare. I wasn't supposed to fight you My Prince." He said standing back up. "But if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!"

A pure black long sword had materialized. Echizen took one of his feathers and ran his index and middle fingers over it and it transformed into goldenrod long sword.

They lept at each other, their swords catching in a deadlock. Hunter maneuvered his sword and then kicked Echizen in the stomach, launching him into a tree.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Chibisuke!" they all shouted.

"Kisama! I'll kill you!" Momo shouted

Hunter glared at him. "You're noisy." He summoned dark matter and hurled it towards the three bystanders.

"Momoshiro watch out!" Ryoga had hurled himself in front of Momo, weapon drawn. Unlike Echizen, Ryoga used a quarter staff to fight. **(If you've ever seen any Robin Hood, it's the staff that Little John uses) **He hit the dark matter, causing it to split and go on either side of him.

"Perfect." Hunter said with a smile.

The dark matter started to materialize behind them and then formed a cage around them.

"What the hell?" Momo said jumping back

"A Black Matter Cage." Ryoga looked at it with terror and amazement.

"Now no one will be able to interfere."

"Let them out!" Echizen shouted as he dashed back towards Hunter taking a swing at him.

"Uto. That's dangerous." He said leaping into the sky. He now had a pair of horntail wings on his back the same color of his hair. **(If you google 'maplestory horntail wings', you'll know what I mean)** "Let's take this to the sky."

He flew up farther and Echizen followed. They began to fight again.

"Kuso. Isn't there a way we can get out of here?" Momo asked.

"I don't have that much knowledge about this kind of black magic. I don't know if any of my spells are going to work." Ryoga replied.

"We have to do something! Ochibi's in trouble!" Eiji cried out.

"GAAH!"

They all looked up to see Echizen clutching his arm. Blood was gushing out.

"Echizen! Damn it! Let us out!"

"Ochibi! Don't worry! We'll save you!"

Eiji and Momo both grabbed the bars.

"Momoshiro! Kikumaru! You'll get tainted!" Ryoga shouted.

"We don't care! Echizen needs our help!"

"Yeah! We'll do anything for our friend."

There was a loud boom. Echizen had been flung to the ground. His sword nowhere to be seen.

"Like I told you, you're weak." Hunter stood over Echizen. "Now, please come with me My Prince. The King hates to be kept waiting."

Echizen looked up and spat in his face.

"You know," Hunter started, wiping his face off. "The King only said to fetch you. He never said you had to be alive."

He raised his sword, preparing to plunge it into Echizen's chest.

He stopped. "Oh, but swords are so typical. I'll just kill you with my bare hands."

He tossed his sword away, knelt down and began to strangle Echizen. Trying to resist, Echizen grabbed Hunter's wrists but he had lost too much blood and all he could do was hold on. Ryoga, Momo and Eiji all watched in horror as the color in Echizen's face slowly vanished and his hands slowly fell.

"Oi Echizen. This isn't funny. Get up." Momo choked trying to keep tears from falling.

"Ochibi, open your eyes." Eiji stared, not believing what his eyes were showing him.

"Chibisuke…" Ryoga slumped to the ground.

"Heh. That wasn't so hard." Hunter said releasing Echizen's neck. He picked Echizen up and slumped him over his shoulder.

"Don't you touch him." Momo and Eiji said in perfect unison.

"Sorry? I couldn't hear you." Hunter said turning around and walking away.

"GET YOUR FLITHY HANDS OFF OF HIM!" they both shouted again.

"And what will you do if I don't?" he said turning around.

"We'll kill you."

They both started to glow.

"PUT. HIM. DOWN!"

There was a flash then explosion. Ryoga had shielded his eyes and when he looked up, there were Eiji and Momo; clad in armor lined with silver and a beautiful pair of wings on their backs.

* * *

**Funny yet suspenseful. I think I did well. What do you think? I chose this over my math homework. Hahaha. Poor Eiji. He's scared of heights.**

**Okay, this was the only idea I had for the regulars getting their wings. If you want more chapters quicker, then help me by giving your input! Review! I cannot do this without your help!**

**Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing. Once again, you guys rock!**

**I'll start on the next chapter now because I have practice tomorrow and don't know if I'll be able to get it done. I probably will but… ideas are fresh right now :3**

**Please forgive the mistakes I've made. I'm tired and my eyes and brain don't work right now.**

**PLEASE review! Until next time! Bye!**


	10. Back Home

**Two chapters in the same day? She must be mad! Wait a second… if you're writing two chapters in the same night… why not upload said chapters?**

**I would upload said chapters but I'm usually not done with the second one and I don't want you guys to get your hopes up of two chapters next time.**

**Does anyone have any particular order that they want the regulars to get their wings? I'm planning on doing Tezuka last but anything in between is your choice!**

**I'm starting the anime over at the beginning to try to get some new ideas. I might put in some short little random fun chapters, like the TeniPuri or the random ones where they go to the beach… something like that.**

**Roses are red, Violets are blue, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis, so stop making me say it.**

**Also, I hope that you guys don't mind but I'm going to start calling Echizen **_**Ryoma**_** now. If you want me to switch back, don't hesitate to tell me.**

**For the sake of not wanting to put 'blue as…' every time I'm referring to Momo's wings, his color will be changed to sapphire. **

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!**

* * *

"GET YOUR FLITHY HANDS OFF OF HIM!" he both shouted again.

"And what will you do if I don't?" he said turning around.

"We'll kill you."

They both started to glow.

"PUT. HIM. DOWN!"

There was a flash then explosion. Ryoga had shielded his eyes and when he looked up, there were Eiji and Momo; clad in armor lined with silver and a beautiful pair of wings on their backs.

* * *

The cage had broken. Ryoga stared at the majesty that was in front of him. Eiji and Momo were the spitting image if their ancestors. Their wings were beautiful. Eiji's were the same shade of pink and fluttered with his fury. Momo's were pure sapphire.

"I thought we told you." Momo started.

"Put. Him. Down." Eiji finished his sentence.

"Oh. This is starting to get interesting." Hunter was fully facing them. "I wonder what the King would do if I brought back the bodies of the Prince's eight defenders."

Ryoma mumbled.

"Ara? What's this?" he looked at Ryoma. "It seems that he's not dead yet."

"Echizen! Hold on! We're coming to get you!" Momo shouted.

"Don't hold your breath. He won't last much longer."

"You bastard." Eiji's wings started to glow, as did Momo's.

They both launched themselves at him. Eiji kicked him in the stomach causing him to release Ryoma. Momo caught him and brought him back to Ryoga.

"Chibisuke!" he shouted as Momo set him in his brother's arms.

"He's still breathing but barely and has lost a lot of blood."

"I'll see what I can do but try to end the battle quick. This environment isn't good."

Momo rushed back to where Eiji was battling Hunter. Momo had drawn a feather and quickly changed it into his long sword. The rushed Hunter and carved a large divot into his back. He cried you in pain. Eiji had drawn two of his feathers and transformed them into twin short swords and carved an X onto his front. He fell to his knees, grasping his chest.

"How… the hell? Where does their power come from?" he said as he coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood.

They both looked at him.

"It's the love we have for each other." Eiji said.

"As long as a friend is in need, we will help." Momo added.

"Heh. Typical. Angels always were soft." Hunter croaked out these last words then sank into a shadow below him.

Eiji and Momo both sighed then fell back. They were exhausted. They watched each other as the armor slowly faded and their wings disintegrated.

"What happened?" Eiji panted.

"We're back to our normal selves?" Momo questioned.

"You've now synced with the souls of your ancestors." Ryoga said as he approached that panting boys with Ryoma in his arms.

"Ah! Ochibi!"

"Echizen! Will he be alright?"

"I've managed to stop the bleeding but we need to get him out of this cold before he gets a fever. Come back to the house and I'll explain what happened." They both nodded and followed Ryoga back to the house.

* * *

When they had returned to the house, Ryoga gently set Ryoma on the couch and tended to his wounds. He then went to the kitchen and got Momo and Eiji, who were sitting at the table, something to drink.

"I'm impressed." He said setting the glasses in front of them. "Not even three days and you were able to draw out your wings."

"Yeah but, how? Momo asked taking the glass.

"Your determination of wanting to save Chibisuke helped you get in touch with the spirits of your ancestors. They granted you the power that you needed in able to defeat the enemy." He pointed to necklaces that they were now wearing.

"Where did this come from?" Momo asked looking at the small pendent. It was of a small left sapphire wing with white long sword over it. Eiji's was a small right dark pink wing with silver short swords in the shape of an X.

"Do you have one?" Eiji asked.

"Ah. Chibisuke and I both." He pulled out the pendent from under his shirt. It was a pair of teal wings that had a quarter staff going across it.

"This is your source of power now. When you first summoned your wings, these materialized around your neck. They glow according to how much energy and will power you have left. They will start glowing more and more as your power increases. When your power is at full, you should be able to transform again, armor and all."

"Will we be able to do it again soon?" Eiji asked.

"You should be able to do it right now. Your armor will not materialize but your wings should."

"How?"

"Visualize the wings on your back and concentrate." Ryoga's wings appeared. "It's not difficult for me since I've had years of practice. Sooner or later you will be at the point where they will just appear with hardly any thought."

Momo and Eiji closed their eyes and tried to concentrate. After about a minute, the room was filled with a calm glow and their wings appeared. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Waah! Kakkoi! They're so pretty!" Eiji said with amazement.

"This is cool!" Momo said happily.

"Ah. Sempai-tachi look so cool now."

They all turned to see Ryoma standing in the doorway.

"Ochibi!"

"Echizen!"

"But not nearly as cool as me." Ryoma said with a smirk as he brought out his own wings.

"Oi Chibisuke, are you okay? Ryoga asked.

"Ah." Was all he said as he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a Ponta.

"Oi, what do you mean we're not as cool as you?" a vein on Mom's forehead popped.

Ryoma smirked. "Nothing. It's just always been like that, Momo-sempai."

Another vein popped.

"Ochibi! Look, look!" Eiji said running up to him and pointing at his own wings. "Now I can fly around with you!"

As he said that, his and Momo's wings vanished.

"What happened?" Eiji said in a slight panic.

"You used up all of your energy. Your power ran out." Ryoga said placing his legs on the table and leaning back in his chair.

"That's ridiculous. I still have plenty of-" Momo fell back into the wall and Eiji fell to his knees.

"Nani? I feel as I haven't slept in days." Eiji said rubbing his eyes.

"The fatigue from the battle has caught up to you." Ryoma said helping Eiji up from the floor. "You don't know how to control you power consumption yet. You'll feel like this the first couple of time. That's why I collapsed after the battles. I'm out of practice."

"We can help you practice Ochi…" Eiji collapsed in Ryoma's arms. Momo had fallen asleep on the wall.

"Heh. This is why I'm cooler then you sempai-tachi." He said with a small smile.

"Come on Chibisuke. Let's let them sleep."

"Ah."

Ryoga slung Momo's arm around his neck, carried him to the living and laid him on the couch. Ryoma followed with Eiji on his back.

* * *

**Why the hell is this chapter so short? I know. I'm sorry! Don't hate me! Writer's block tends to do that so some people.**

**What will happen next time? How the hell do I know? I need you, the reader, to help me out. Please! Review! It would help me a lot! I know that I keep saying this but this time I mean it. There might not be a new chapter for several days if no one tells me some ideas that they have. Help me and review. Tell me what you would like to see happen with the remaining regulars.**

**Again, sorry for weird language, sentence structure, bad grammar, misuse of words.**

**I might start calling Echizen **_**Echizen**_** again. Just a heads up.**

**I'm so damn tired. **

**See you next time!**


	11. Why is the food gone?

**Hi hi everyone! I started this chapter later than all the other ones for some reason… who cares. Anyways, I plan to make end the story somewhere between 15-20 chapters so have fun while it lasts!**

**Honestly, I only had up to about chapter 6 planned and the end. I have no idea what to do for the middle. Oh well. I hope that everyone has liked it so far and aren't disappointed by everything or anything. Don't hesitate to ask for clarification on anything if I somehow confused you.**

**God, let's say this one more time. .NOT. own Prince of Tennis.**

**Well, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

"We can help you practice Ochi…" Eiji collapsed in Ryoma's arms. Momo had been asleep on the wall.

"Heh. This is why I'm cooler then you sempai-tachi." He said with a small smile.

"Come on Chibisuke. Let's let them sleep."

"Ah."

Ryoga slung Momo's arm around his neck, carried him to the living and laid him on the couch. Ryoma followed with Eiji on his back.

* * *

Momo and Eiji had been asleep on Echizen's couch for a few hours. When they awoke, they saw Ryoga sleeping on the floor with Karupin on his stomach. Not wanting to wake him, the quietly gathered their things and headed for the door. They noticed that Echizen was asleep at the table with two small bentos in front of him. They went to see what they were for and discovered a note on top of them.

'_Momo-sempai, Kikumaru-sempai: These are for you. Don't wake me up.'_

They both smiled as they read the note.

"Nya, Ochibi is really caring. Ne, Momo?" Eiji whispered.

"Ah. He just doesn't know how to show it sometimes."

They both took their lunches and headed to the door.

* * *

Echizen woke up to Karupin pawing at his nose.

"Karupin?"

He replied by licking Echizen's nose and jumping off the table, heading to his food dish.

Echizen looked at the clock and discovered that he had been asleep for nearly seven hours and it was nearly nightfall. He noticed that his sempai-tachi and the bentos he left for them were gone and a small thank you note was left in their place.

He got up and fed Karupin then went to find something for himself. He grabbed a rice ball and Ponta from the fridge. He was still tired, but then again, when wasn't he? He had planned to fall asleep on the couch while watching TV and having his so called dinner but Ryoga had beaten him to it. Nonetheless, he turned on the TV and sat right on his brother. He awoke with a rather loud grunt.

"Gah! What're you doing Chibisuke?" he asked rubbing his eyes.

"What does it look like? I'm watching TV." he replied taking a sip from his Ponta.

"I can see that but you don't have to do it on me."

"You're in my spot."

"Heh. Brat." He saw Echizen take a bite of his rice ball. "Oi, give me a bite."

"Yadda. Go get your own."

"But that was the last one!"

"Your loss."

Ryoga sighed but a sudden smirk came across his face. "I guess I'll just go make something myself."

Echizen nearly spit out his Ponta.

"Here." he said giving the remaining part of the rice ball to his brother.

"Aw. Chibisuke's so kind!" he said as he took it and gobbled it down.

'_The last time you tried to make noodles, you burnt them and almost burnt the house down.' _he thought with a sigh.

Echizen finished his Ponta and he and Ryoga watched TV for a few hours until the both fell asleep.

* * *

Again, Echizen woke up to Karupin pawing at his nose.

"Are you hungry again?" he asked with a yawn.

He meowed and ran towards his bowl. Echizen tried to follow but discovered he couldn't move. His brother was holding onto his waist, still appearing to be asleep.

"Oi." he said in a very un-amused tone. "Let go."

Ryoga groaned. "Uhh… Yadda. It's been so long since we've slept together like this. I want to save it." He smiled.

A vein popped.

"I have to feed Karupin. Let go."

"Yadda!" he hugged his waist tighter.

A second vein popped. He was trying to figure out how to make his brother let go of him. If there was anything Echizen cared more about than tennis, it was Karupin. He could threaten to not make his brother any food but then thought if Ryoga was hungry, he would try and make his own food and most likely burn the house down. He thought for a minute and then came up with an excellent idea.

"I guess that I can't feed you right now Karupin. Ryoga and I are reminiscing in old memories."

Karupin's ears perked up at the words 'can't feed'. He went to the back side of the couch and transformed. Ryoga looked up as a shadow blocked the light on his face. He sweat dropped. Karupin was leaning over his with intent to kill. His grip on Echizen lessened. He got up and proceeded to get him his can of food. Karupin shrunk back down and followed.

"Oi Chibisuke, that wasn't very nice."

Echizen smirked.

Ryoga got himself off of the couch and made his way to the fridge.

"Why is there never any food anymore?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Echizen looked at him with a 'how the hell should I know' look on his face.

"I guess I'll go to the grocery store and pick some things for later."

"Why can't I go? I don't want to be left with your scary cat." He shot Karupin a glare. Karupin looked up and meowed.

"You waste all your money on sweets. I'm going." He took his wallet and hat and left.

"O-Oi Chibisuke!" He lept up and ran to the door. "At least get me some Pocky while you're there!" he shouted down the street.

Echizen raised his hand and waved back. "Hai."

* * *

Echizen hadn't really thought about what to get for lunch and dinner that night and the nights to follow. He had 4500yen **(about $56 US) **as part of the money his mother left. He missed his mother. Hell, he even missed his stupid father but he was glad they weren't here to share in the terror of the war between angels and demons.

He pondered around the store for a while, wondering what to get. After about a half hour of shopping, he headed back home. On his way back, he couldn't help but feel he was being watched by someone. It wasn't like it was a bad feeling but he could never be too careful. He quickened his pace a bit and hurried home.

He arrived home to Ryoga being crushed by Karupin. Apparently, he couldn't wait for Echizen to get back and tried to make something. Karupin knew better. He dragged Ryoga out of the kitchen and waited for Echizen to get home. Echizen, not really caring why his brother was being crushed, went to the kitchen and put the groceries away. When he entered said kitchen, there were two pots of water boiling with nothing in them, a few eggs were cracked on the floor and the milk was spilling over the counter. He sweat dropped.

"Good boy Karupin. Extra fish for you tonight." He said setting down the food and grabbing a towel. "But next time, don't even let him in the kitchen if I'm not here."

"Can you get your cat off of me?" Ryoga barely managed croak out.

Echizen looked at him. His eye's clearly saying, 'After what you did to this kitchen? I don't think so.'

"Did you at least get me my Pocky?"

He pulled out a small box and placed it on the counter. "You can have it when you're done eating."

After he cleaned up the mess his brother made, he began making lunch. He started to fry the fish he bought but he couldn't concentrate. He kept thinking of the feeling he had coming home.

"The fish is burning." He heard a voice behind him. "Oi Chibisuke, the fish is burning."

He looked up to see his brother over his shoulder** (somehow managed to get free. Use your imagination)** then down to see that the fish really was burning. He quickly lowered the heat and turned off the burner.

"What's up Chibisuke? It's not like you to ruin food." Ryoga asked placing his hand on Echizen's head checking to see if he was sick.

"Nothing." He replied flipping the fish to the other side.

"Don't give me that. You've never burnt food before. What's up?"

He looked at him, unwilling to answer.

"Chibisuke, answer me or I'll dump all your Ponta down the drain."

"… I think that someone was watching me on my way from the store." He finally answered in fear that his Ponta really would go down the drain. "But it wasn't like all the other times when I was attacked. This was more of a… tracker."

"What do you mean?"

"It didn't feel like it had any ill will. Only… fascination."

"I'm still not sure what you mean Chibisuke."

"Neither am I."

"It's fine as long as its intents weren't evil right? Maybe you just have a stalker." He said with a chuckle.

A chill went down Echizen's spine. He already had enough people obsessed about him. He didn't need another.

The phone rang.

"I'll get it." Ryoga said walking from the kitchen. "Moshi Moshi?"

Echizen was still in the kitchen preparing their lunches. He was catching some words from Ryoga's conversation but paid them no consideration. He was setting their food on the table when Ryoga entered the room.

"That was Momoshiro-kun. He was wondering if we could meet him at the park." He said coming into the room.

"What did you tell him?" Echizen said setting down his plate.

"I said that we would be there when we were done eating."

"Fine."

* * *

When they were done eating, they gathered their things and headed to the park, Karupin included. Every so often, Echizen would look behind himself.

"Still feel like you're being watched?" Ryoga asked.

"Ah."

"Well, Karupin isn't acting up. That must mean that it doesn't have any hostile intent."

"I hope so."

They had arrived at the park to discover that Momo had called all the regulars and asked them to meet him.

"You're late Echizen!" Momo shouted.

"How can we be late if you never specified a time to be here by?" he said apathetically as he and Ryoga joined the group.

"Maa, maa. Let's not start fighting first thing" Taka interrupted. "What did you call us here for Momo?"

"Ah, well actually, Eiji-sempai and I wanted to show you all something." He said giving Eiji a smile

"Nya, you'll all be super jealous!" Eiji said returning Momo's smile.

"Saa, I wonder what it could be." Fuji said.

"I'm sure I already know what it is." Echizen said putting his arms behind his head.

"Ochibi! Don't spoil it for everyone!"

"You already know what it is Echizen?" Oishi asked.

"My Prince. I've found you after all this time." They all heard a voice behind them. Echizen's eyes popped open. He recognized this voice. He slowly turned to see a figure standing in front of everyone.

* * *

**MWAHAHA! CLIFF HANGER! *dodges things thrown at her* I know you guys hate cliff hangers but it makes you come back.**

**More touching brotherly love! I love it!**

**Bets anyone? Wanna bet who the figure is? Kevin, Old opponent, Atobe, Black Winged Angel? All of the above? None of the above? Who could it be?**

**Man, procrastination is a bitch. Started this at around like 5:30 and just now finishing. Procrastination. Noun; comes in many forms: cats, mom, food, Facebook. For alternate meanings, check under Distractions.**

**Just a heads up, I might not tell how all the regulars get their wings in full description. I might just say that they all got their wings and then go into brief flashbacks when they are training or might use flashbacks to trigger wing appearing-ness… something along those lines.**

**Do all the fun things! Please. Do all the fun things. Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing and to all the people adding them to favorites and subscribing. You guys give me motivation!**

**Again, very sorry for all mistakes I know I missed.**

**Love you all! See you next time!**


	12. Another Obsessed Fan

**Hello everyone. Ready to find you who it is? Too bad I won't tell you! JKJK you'll find out soon enough.**

**I wanna say thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing. You guys really do keep me going. I love you all!**

**Ummm, next few chapters **_**might**_** be noticeably shorter but not completely positive. Probably not but you never know.**

**Still looking for suggestions from anyone and everyone for what should go on next in the story. Remember, more ideas mean more chapters which means might not end so soon. Keep that in mind.**

**Just a heads up, this chapter will have some sexual humor. Nothing yaoi like and no kissing but sexual humor nonetheless.**

**I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis and neither do you… unless… you do own Prince of Tennis… but I'm pretty sure that you're not Takeshi Konomi, soooo… you don't own Prince of Tennis either.**

**Next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm sure I already know what it is." Echizen said putting his arms behind his head.

"Ochibi! Don't spoil it for everyone!"

"You already know what it is Echizen?" Oishi asked.

"My Prince. I've found you after all this time." They all heard a voice behind them. Echizen's eyes popped open. He recognized this voice. He slowly turned to see a figure standing in front of everyone.

* * *

"It's been so long." The figure said with a slight hint of affection in his voice. "I thought I'd never see you again."

The regulars were looked at the person standing in front of them and formed a barrier around Echizen and Ryoga.

"Who are you?" the stoic captain asked.

"Nani?" the person said. "You mean he hasn't told you about me? Bocchan, I'm hurt."

'_Bocchan?' _all the regulars thought.

"Oi Echizen, do you know this guy?" Momo asked turning to Echizen.

Echizen and Ryoga were staring at the person in front of them, eyes wide open, arms extended, pointing at the figure.

"Y-You." They both said.

"Ara? So then you do know him?" Taka asked as he and everyone else turned to face them.

"A-Ah."

"He's…*gulp* Leon."

Leon was a guy who looked about Ryoga's age with strawberry blonde hair and teal eyes.

"You remember me?" he asked with glassy eyes. "Gaah! I'm so happy!" he yelled running towards them.

"Is he an old friend Echizen?" Oishi asked as he turned back to them. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

They all heard Echizen yelling in fear as he ran from the group.

"Run your fastest Chibisuke! Try not to let him catch you! I'll come find you later!" Ryoga shouted.

"Why him Kami-sama? What did I do to deserve this?" Echizen screamed as he ran into the trees.

"Bocchan! Wait for meee!" Leon shouted as he ran after Echizen into the trees.

"Oi Ryoga, shouldn't we help him?" Momo asked with slight confusion in his voice.

"I would if it were possible." He said with a sigh as he placed his hand on his head.

"Nya, what do you mean?"

Ryoga sighed again. "Leon was a knight's apprentice when we still lived in the castle. To let him have more practice, the King assigned him to watching Chibisuke and I. He's a year older than me so the King thought that he should be able to handle it. He stayed with us all the time. I guess you could say that he was, umm, like the obsessive and over protective big brother."

"Saa, is that such a bad thing?"

"It was fine for the most part but after some time, it got annoying. We didn't have a minute to ourselves. It even got to the point where he wouldn't let even Chibisuke play with Karupin in the garden. I asked the King to change our guard but he said that it was only temporary. We constantly tried to get away but he would always find us. After a while, he got reassigned and we never saw him again."

"Why is he here now?" Oishi asked.

"Turns out he was sent here by the King. He said that earth needed to be protected. He was right. Demons started appearing everywhere. Leon got sent here along with a few others to stop the attacks. We found out about this three years ago."

"That's when Echizen fought that Archer guy." Inui pointed out.

"Ah. We were in the park when he attacked. We managed to fend him off for a little while but when he realized Chibisuke was the prince, he went all out. We would have been dead if Leon didn't show up. He made Archer run away with his tail in between his legs. When he realized that Chibisuke was the prince, he didn't dare leave our side. We were stuck with him for three months. It was like we were in the castle again. Couldn't get a moment to ourselves."

"How did you end up getting rid of him?" Tezuka asked.

"I had college and Chibisuke came here."

"You left without a words notice?"

Ryoga grunted. "Well, we left him a note saying that I had moved to be closer to school and Chibisuke has moved to Japan to further his tennis career. Unfortunately, I forgot to delete my number from his phone and he called me in a panic wondering where we went. I told him that we were fine and didn't need his protection anymore but he said that it wasn't protection anymore. He missed us. He said that he wouldn't stop looking until he found us and we were all together again and, well… here we are."

"Nya, that doesn't sound so bad. Maybe he was lonely."

"Oh, he was lonely but not for the reason you think."

They looked at him with muddled faces.

"What do you mean?" Inui asked taking out his notebook.

"Uno, he… has a slight… obsession with guys."

They all, minus Tezuka and Fuji, looked at him with even more confused faces.

"What do you mean?" Taka asked.

Ryoga scratched his head. "I don't really know how to say this…"

"He's gay." Everyone but Tezuka looked at Fuji. "That's the only reasonable explanation."

They all turned back to Ryoga, asking with their eyes that if what Fuji said was true.

"No, he's not _gay_. He just has an obsession with guys."

"Oi, in my book that would count as gay."

"Fsshhh… agreed."

"No really. He's not gay but… more of an over protective brother with an obsession for his little brothers. He's had plenty of girlfriends."

"Nya, but what if he tries something… funny?" Eiji asked slipping behind Oishi.

"Don't worry he won't. At least, not with any of you."

"Fsshhh… what do you mean?"

"When I say he has an obsession with guys, I mean with Chibisuke."

Their eyes widened showing surprise and concern.

"W-What will he do if he catches Echizen?" Oishi asked going into mother hen mode.

Ryoga sighed. "We should try and find them fast. Even I don't know what will happen."

"Nya, Why didn't you say so?" Kikumaru shouted as he and the other regulars ran off into the trees in search of their endangered kouhai.

* * *

They had wondered through the trees for a good half an hour and made their way to the center of the park. There was still no sign of Echizen and it was starting to get cold.

"Where could Ochibi be?" Eiji asked to no one in particular.

There was a rustle of leaves above them. Momo looked up.

"Ga! E-Echizen!"

They all turned and looked where Momo was facing. There was Echizen, perched on a branch of a tree trying to hide himself.

He heard his name being called and looked down.

"Ochibi! So that's where you were!"

"Baka sempai-tachi! Be quiet or he'll fin-" he heard a voice on the branch behind him.

"Bocchan!"

Echizen sweat dropped, then, startled, he dropped. Twenty feet. But luckily, Momo was there to break his fall.

"Itai!" they both yelled.

"Are you two okay?" Oishi asked now fully in mother hen mode.

"Bocchan!"

Before either of them had time to answer, Echizen leapt off of Momo and started running but he wasn't fast enough. Leon had caught up and hugged him from behind.

"Bocchan! I finally caught you!" Leon said with a squeeze. "I hope that you didn't get injured in that fall." With this said, he ran his arm up Echizen's side until he was at his chest. "You're not hurt are you?" he asked in a seductive tone.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME!" he screamed as he tried to squirm his way free.

"Not until I give you a full examination to make sure that you're not hurt." He said as he tried to slip his hand under Echizen's shirt.

They regulars all stared. They were confused. Confusion turned into anger. Anger turned into intent to kill.

"RYOGA! GET THIS PERVERT OFF OF ME OR I SWEAR TO GOD I'LL NEVER MAKE YOU FOOD AGAIN!"

Before Ryoga could react, Momo, Kaidou, Fuji and Eiji took a step forward.

"Oi. What the hell do you think you're doing to my best friend?"

"Fsshhh… I'll kill you, you pervert."

"Nya, let go of Ochibi!"

"Saa, we cannot allow you to do that to our teammate."

"What? I'm just making sure he's not hurt" he said in his cheery voice again.

"You bastard! I'll sue you for sexual harassment! Let me go!"

"Leon, this isn't funny anymore. Let Chibisuke go." Ryoga said in a very serious voice going in front of Momo and the others.

Leon gave him a pout. "Yaaadda! Bocchan is mine!"

Ryoga glared at him. "He's not an object. He doesn't belong to anyone."

Leon glared back. He tightened his grasp on Echizen making him grunt.

"You should talk. You call him yours all the time."

"He's _my_ brother."

"How could he be? He was raised in a castle. You were raised on a farm."

Ryoga clenched his fists. "Shut up."

"He's the prince of a nation. You should worship the ground he walks on and be glad if he looks at you."

"Shut up!"

"I however was raised in the castle. I think that gives me greater rights to call him mine than for you to call him your brother."

Ryoga snapped. "SHUT UP!"

"Oh. Did I hit a nerve?"

Ryoga was trembling with anger.

"Let. Me. Go." Echizen mumbled.

"Hah? What did you say Bocchan?"

"I said, Let. Me. GO!"

There was a flash and Leon let go. Echizen stood in front of him with his wings fully extended.

"What the hell do you know?" he asked glaring at him. "You have no right to say any of that" he walked over to Ryoga. "He has taught me more than you ever have. He has always been there for me. I don't care that he's not my real brother and I don't care about his social status and I'm glad. I wouldn't want him to be some stupid stuck up asshole like you who thinks that everyone below him is scum. He has more rights to call me his brother than you do calling yourself a servant of the King."

"B-But…"

"You should be happy if I glance at you. Hell, you should be happy if I acknowledge you anymore. I will not have anyone who sneers at my family or friends. You can consider yourself relieved of your duties and any ties you have to the royal family."

"Bocchan… I-"

"You have no right to call me that anymore." He turned from Leon and started head back towards the front of the park. The regulars took on last look at him then hurried to follow Echizen. Ryoga stayed behind.

"I know. I don't deserve the life I have but that's just how it is. One of the reasons we go together so well is we've both had hard pasts. I'm sorry that you feel the way you do but I can't change the past. I can only look forward to a better future." Leon looked at him, tears forming in his eyes. "Apologize to Chibisuke. I know he doesn't look it but he cares deeply for the people around him. If you tell him you're sorry, he'll higher his opinion of you and might just forgive you."

With that, Ryoga turned away and ran to catch up with the others.

Leon stayed for a few minutes thinking, about what Ryoga had told him. He didn't really mean all the things he said but sometimes he just can't control himself when it comes to the people he cares for. He jumped up, wiping the tears from his eyes and started to run after everyone.

* * *

Everyone else was almost at the park entrance. The journey had almost been completely silent except for Tezuka and Fuji talking quietly in the back and Inui mumbling 'Ii data' as he wrote in his notebook.

"I feel violated." Echizen finally broke the almost complete silence. "I'm going to have to sit in the bath for hours to feel clean."

"You shouldn't do that Echizen! Being in the bath for so long is bad for your skin!" Oishi quickly said, still in mother hen mode.

"Yeah Ochibi! Your toes and fingers will look like prunes if you stay in that long!"

"I don't even think all the bath salts I have will make it better." He said ignoring what Oishi and Kikumaru were telling him and giving himself a disgusted look.

The sun was going down and it was getting dark. A light mist started to form.

"What's with this mist?" Taka asked.

Echizen and Ryoga both felt it. They were being watched from somewhere.

"Be careful. We're being watched." Echizen said in a low hush.

There was a rustle in the trees.

"Everyone, form a circle." Ryoga ordered.

They all did as they were told. They started to hear footsteps.

"Bocchan! HABUNI!" they all saw Leon running towards them.

"What's he doing back her-" Echizen was cut off as he felt a burning sensation at his shoulder. He looked and discovered that there was a long arrow sticking out.

"Bocchan!"

* * *

**Weeeell? What do you think? Bit of a twist there. Didn't expect that huh? Another touching moment between brothers. It makes me jealous that my brother isn't like this.**

**Okay, I know that some of you might be a little bit confused with the whole Leon thing. For one thing, I did make him up. The whole him being a pervert thing, I thought that it might be funny. If any of you have ever read ½ Prince (I don't own that either), think of Leon being obsessed with Ryoma like Gui being obsessed with Prince. He's that sort of person. Deeply caring but caring to much at the same time. As much as I am trying to make him seem pervy and believe me I am, I am trying to make him seem like the overly protected big brother. Yeah he placed his hand under Echizen's shirt but when you take a 20ft fall, you can't expect to be perfectly fine. Try to think that with all the pervy things he does, it's out of how much he does truly care for him.**

**Sorry if there are mistakes that I missed or if anything confused anyone. **

**Also, I'm sorry if that part about him being gay offended anyone. I'm not one to judge. If it offended you, I am truly sorry.**

**Hope you all like this chapter. What will happen to Echizen in the next chapter? Will he forgive Leon? Will there be a battle? Will another regular get his wings? I have to think of answers to these questions before I write about them.**

**See you next time!**


	13. Dangers of Friendship

**Hi everyone! Didn't expect that to happen did ya? How has everyone been since the last update? Never mind, don't answer. Asking that made me feel really weird… Nonetheless, I hope everyone has been good. I on the other hand have a sore throat and slight fever so, sorry if this doesn't get out until later than usual.**

**Anyway, sorry for the link not coming up in the last chapter. Hope no one minded. That doesn't sound like a word…**

**I had a thought bubble but then, a gust of wind blew it away and it popped in a tree. Hopefully, a new one will appear.**

**I wanna say thanks to **_**Twinkylittleme, theanimerockz25, MintLeafeon and Midori-Emmi **_**for reviewing. I love you guys. Oh, if my saying this all the time is making you guys feel that you have to review, you don't have to. I just like saying thanks to the most recent. **

**Now, unless I can save up lots of money and buy PoT from Takeshi Konomi, that is when I will say that I own PoT but that will never happen so I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Okay, let's see what happens to everyone now!**

* * *

"Everyone, form a circle." Ryoga ordered.

They all did as they were told. They started to hear footsteps.

"Bocchan! HABUNI!" they all saw Leon running towards them.

"What's he doing back her-" Echizen was cut off as he felt a burning sensation at his shoulder. He looked and discovered that there was a long arrow sticking out.

"Bocchan!"

* * *

Echizen fell to the ground, grasping his shoulder in pain as Leon ran to his side.

"Bocchan, are you alright?" he asked as he knelt down beside him.

"Where did that arrow come from?" Momo shouted.

"Seems like the prince and his guards have gotten sloppy." There was a voice in the trees.

"Kisama! Who is that?" Ryoga shouted.

A figure dropped from the trees in front of everyone. He looked at Leon.

"Long time so see, little dog." The figure said.

Leon's eyes popped open. There was only one being that would ever call him that. He slowly stood up, unfurled his wings and dashed towards the figure. Everyone saw the glory of Leon's wings. They were a wonderful sliver with a blue tint.

"ALEX!" he shouted as he tried to punch the figure in front.

"I knew you wouldn't forget about me." He said dodging Leon's fist. Alex was about Fuji's height with long dark gray hair tied in a ponytail. His eyes were dark purple and he was holding a bow and a quiver on his back. **(A quiver is the thing that holds arrows)**

Everyone watched the battle that had started. Echizen had managed to stand and yank the arrow from his shoulder. A long stream of blood started flowing out.

"Echizen! Don't try to move! We should tend to your shoulder!" Oishi said in a panic.

"I'm fine Oishi-sempai." He said with a slight wince.

"D-Demo…"

There was a loud bang and Leon flew back into a tree next to them with a lite stream of blood flowing from his mouth.

"You think that you of all people can beat me?" Alex mocked.

Leon wiped his mouth and tried to stand. He wavered ready to fall back but Momo and Eiji caught him by the shoulders.

"I think it's time that we entered the field." Momo said.

"I was thinking the same thing." Eiji replied.

"O-Oi! What are you two doing?" Taka asked.

Alex looked at them with a questionable stare. "What can two little humans like you do to me?"

"I think that you're mistaken." Eiji said.

"We're not humans." Momo added.

"You see," they both said, opening their wings. "We're angels."

"Sempai-tachi always liked to show off." Echizen said with a smirk.

"Saa, When did this happen?" Fuji asked opening his eyes.

"This is why we called everyone here. We wanted to show you." Momo said with a smile as he glanced back at them.

"Heh. This isn't very fare." Alex said.

"When are demons ever fare?" Leon said with a glare.

Alex smirked. "Fine then. Let's play by demon rules." He snapped his fingers and tons of creatures appeared. "May I present to you, my daredevils."

Daredevils were creatures looked like mix between a raccoon and hedgehog. They were fully black with spikes lining their backs. They had three tails all with pointed tips like arrowheads. They had razor like teeth and were growling and drooling at everyone.

"Tare them to pieces."

The daredevils rushed at everyone. Ryoga and Echizen had readied themselves for battle and everyone extracted their weapons. Momo and Echizen had long swords; Eiji had his short swords and Ryoga his quarter staff. Leon pulled two feathers and laid them on his hands and kissed them. They shined like his wings for a few seconds and then died down to reveal a set of pure silver brass knuckles.

He kissed them again. "Let's do this."

Momo, Leon, Ryoga and Eiji rushed forward while Echizen stayed back to guard the rest of the regulars. He took two feathers. He chanted a shield spell on one of them and threw it over the regulars and a stamina increaser on the other and threw it over his winged companions.

Eiji, Momo and Ryoga were slicing and bashing away the daredevils where Leon broke through and headed straight for Alex.

"You think that just because you have little helpers that you can beat me?" Alex said with a sarcastic laugh as he blocked one of Leon's punches.

"You bastard! We _will_ defeat you." Leon shouted. "We'll defeat you! And then we will venture to the castle and defeat the fallen angel!"

"Like pitiful little angels like you can defeat him. Right now, it doesn't even look like you can defend your prince."

"Nani?" Leon whipped his head around to see Echizen clutch his shoulder once more and fall into a kneel.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Chibisuke!"

"Bocchan! Watch out!"

Echizen looked up to see a daredevil about to land on him. He quickly stood and slashed it making it disappear. He was breathing quite hard. He stuck his sword into the ground and leaned on it, again clutching onto his shoulder.

"Echizen!" Oishi tried to run from the barrier to help his fallen comrade.

"Don't!" Echizen shouted getting back to his feet. His breathing had become even harder. "Karupin!"

Karupin had jumped from the trees and started leaping on the daredevils.

"Teme!" Leon shouted punching Alex in the face. He flew back, bounced off a tree and then fell to the ground.

"Why you…!" He looked up to see the four warriors standing over him.

"We are more than enough to defeat you." Leon said.

"Heh. I'm not as stupid like my brothers before me." Alex said with a small laugh. "You defeated me but I am not yet beat." He snapped his fingers. Everyone heard a cry of pain from behind them. Echizen dropped to his knees, coughing up little mouthfuls of blood.

"BOCCHAN! You bastard! What did you do?" Leon shouted.

" Nothing. The poison just started taking affect." Alex laughed then looked behind them.

"P-Poison?" Momo stuttered.

'That bastard. He probably laced the arrow." Ryoga said clenching his fists.

"Echizen!" They all heard shouts behind them. A daredevil had come out of nowhere and clamped its teeth into Echizen's side making him scream in pain.

"Ochibi!" Eiji bolted to his side and slashed the daredevil causing it to disband. Echizen fell to the ground with a thud. The barrier he had set dissolved and everyone ran to his side. Leon stood watching in horror as the color from Echizen's face slowly faded.

"Your dear prince will die and all of you with him." Alex coughed out.

Leon glared at him. "Give me the antidote."

"There is none."

His eyes jolted open. "I guess there is no reason to keep you here any longer." He chanted a quick spell on his hands and punched Alex in the back causing him to fade into the darkness.

Leon stood there. No antidote? How would Echizen survive? He snapped back to reality when he heard the calls of Echizen's name, telling him to 'hold on' and 'stay awake'. He ran to where everyone was huddled around the boy. Blood was gushing out of him like a river. He wasn't going to last much longer if they didn't do something.

"My healing isn't enough to close a wound this big." Ryoga said placing his hands back on his brother's side attempting to stop the bleeding.

Leon looked from Echizen to Ryoga, then at all the regulars surrounding them.

"You." He pointed to Oishi. "You are the healer. You can heal him."

Oishi looked at him. "What? I-I can't do anything like they can." He said gesturing at Momo and Eiji.

"You want to help him, don't you?"

"Of course!"

"Then try."

Oishi gulped and moved to Ryoga's spot. He placed his hands on Echizen, closed his eyes and prayed.

'_Kami-sama, please help me save him. Please, give me the power to save him!'_

A small light radiated from his neck, then his hands. It felt warm. A larger light radiated from his back to reveal bright teal wings emerging from his back. Everyone gazed at him then at Echizen, watching the wound slowly close and his breathing return to normal. He opened his eyes to see everyone staring down at him.

"Nani?" he asked in a weak voice. "It's rude to stare sempai-tachi."

Oishi removed his hands from Echizen's side and looked at him. "Echizen! You're alright! Thank… God." He had collapsed on Echizen's lap.

"Naa! Oishi!" Eiji panicked.

"He's fine Kikumaru. Just tired." Ryoga placed his hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Come on. Let's go back to the house. There are some things I'd like to discuss." They gently placed Oishi on Taka's back and started heading back to Echizen's house.

Echizen was at the back of the group and noticed that Leon wasn't following them. He turned to face him.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"Ah! Umm… Uno…" He couldn't think of anything to say.

"Hurry up or we'll leave you behind." He said turning from Leon and walking to catch up with the others.

"Ah, Hai!" Leon looked shocked to hear Echizen say that but followed him nonetheless.

* * *

When they had reached the house, the set Oishi on the couch and everyone gathered and started talking about what had happened. Echizen told Leon to follow him into his room. Everyone looked surprised when they heard that.

"Karupin, if anyone tries to come upstairs, sit on them." Echizen said with an annoyed face knowing that someone would try to see what they were doing. "If anyone gets hungry, feel free to make yourself something."

"Oi Chibisuke, am I included-" Echizen glared at him, not letting him finish his sentence.

"If Ryoga tries to make anything, kick him out of the house."

Everyone sweat dropped when he said that. Echizen locked himself and Leon in his room and were up there for what seemed like hours. Oishi had woken up and was being filled in on what happened when he was asleep.

"Saa, I wonder what they're doing up there." Fuji said with a chuckle.

"He better not be doing anything weird." Ryoga said with a hint of frustration in his voice.

"What did you want to discuss?" Tezuka asked.

"Ah, I wanted to-" he was interrupted.

There were some thuds and bangs coming from Echizen's room. When Ryoga tried to check on them, Karupin grew and attempted to sit on him.

They were in his room for about an hour until Echizen came running down the stairs and hid behind the couch.

"What happened Echizen?" Inui asked.

"I'm never doing that again." He said narrowing his eyes.

"What did you guys talk about?" Fuji asked.

"I'm gonna have to soak for twice as long." He replied completely ignoring Fuji's question.

"Bocchan! Where'd you go?" They all heard Leon shout from upstairs. "We still need to kiss and make up!" He caught sight of Echizen hiding behind the couch and lunged for him.

"Bocchan!"

Echizen bolted behind Ryoga who got caught instead. Leon, having his eyes closed, thought that he had caught Echizen. He kissed Ryoga right on the lips.

"See Bocchan? That wasn't that bad." He opened his eyes to discover Ryoga limp in his arms, his soul slowly leaving his body.

"EH?"

Echizen took this opportunity to run to the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a bath." He yelled. "Sempai-tachi, feel to stay the night again."

"Mou! Wait Bocchan! I'll wash your back for you." Leon dropped Ryoga and ran towards Echizen.

"Karupin, do NOT let him in under any circumstances! If he somehow manages to get in, you get no dinner for the next two days!"

The regulars all laughed hearing Echizen say that but then realized how serious he was. He would never mistreat Karupin.

"Bocchan! Wait!" Echizen ran into the bathroom and shut the door causing Leon to run into it.

* * *

**I feel good about myself. I got this done before midnight! Well? How was it? Go Oishi! You rock! Little drama, little comedy. Will Ryoga recover? Will Echizen ever come out of the bathroom? Will Karupin have dinner? Again, all the questions I am asking myself.**

**This time, I'm not gonna ask you to do all the fun things. You can if you want but I will not force you. Although, it does motivate me and… give me new ideas… Everyone, PLEASE REVIEW!**

**I wanna say thanks to everyone that has stuck with me this far. You guys really do motivate me. **

**One more time, sorry for the mistakes I know I missed.**

**Well, I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm tired and sick. Those two do not mix together very well… See you tomorrow!**


	14. Call from Mom

**Hello once again everyone! It's time to see what will happen to the regulars this time! Again, my idea bubble is nowhere to be seen… Let's just blow a new one.**

**Instead of giving a whole chapter to the rest of the regulars of how they get their wings, I might just fast forward through time and then during the super mega this-decides-the-fate-of-the-world battle, give flashbacks on how everyone got their wings. We'll see how it goes.**

**I am in sort of a rush to get this story done because I have other ideas for other stories. I would start them now but I don't like the idea of having multiple stories with none of them being completed. I won't start a new story until old ones are finished.**

**I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis and if anyone tells you otherwise I'll smack them upside the head. **

**Let's see if Echizen was ever able to escape the bathroom.**

* * *

"Mou! Wait Bocchan! I'll wash your back for you." Leon dropped Ryoga and ran towards Echizen.

"Karupin, do NOT let him in under any circumstances! If he somehow manages to get in, you get no dinner for the next two days!"

The regulars all laughed hearing Echizen say that but then realized how serious he was. He would never mistreat Karupin.

"Bocchan! Wait!" Echizen ran into the bathroom and shut the door causing Leon to run into it.

* * *

Little did everyone know, when Echizen said that was going to have to soak, he meant it. He was in there for almost an hour. When he came out, he nearly tripped over Karupin. He was sitting on Leon in front of the bathroom door.

"Ah! Bocchan!" Leon managed to say. "Do you think you could possibly get your feline off of me?"

"Good boy Karupin. Extra fish tonight." He said patting Karupin on the head and walking away towards the dining room.

"Bocchan! Wait!" he tried to get free but that only made Karupin go deadweight.

Echizen walked into the dining room to see everyone seated at the table.

"What did you tell them?" he asked.

"Nothing yet." Ryoga replied. "I'd figured that you would want to be present when I explained things to them."

"It's not like I don't know what we were planning to do."

Ryoga gave him an annoyed look. "Anyway, with the week after this coming up week being a vacation, we thought that it might be best if we all went to train."

Everyone looked at him with slight confusion.

"Uno, what do you mean?" Oishi asked.

"You all need to learn how to defend yourselves." Echizen butted in. "We've been attacked three times in the past three days."

"You mean _you've_ been attacked." Ryoga interrupted.

"Urusai. The enemy is getting stronger. I might not be able to protect you next time they strike." Echizen's eyes saddened a little. "We need to instruct you on self-defense in case they start going after you when you're alone."

"Where would we be doing this Echizen?" Inui asked looking up from his notebook for the first time.

"We have a house in the mountains that could prove useful." Ryoga said answering his question.

"I was hoping that we could discuss this sooner but things came up." Echizen said with a sigh.

"What kind of things?" Momo asked.

Echizen pointed to the hall behind him. All the regulars looked and listened. They heard a small wail.

"Boooooocchaaaaaan…" Leon was still trapped under Karupin.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Anyway," Echizen continued. "I would like your answers as soon as possible. The sooner we can start training the better."

"Nya, count me in Ochibi!"

"Me too Echizen!"

Eiji and Momo were the first ones to comment.

"Saa, we could use that time as team bonding. Ne, Tezuka?" Fuji said.

"Hn." was his reply.

"Fsshhh…"

"Ii data…" **(Were those even answers?)**

"I'll have to make sure Otou-san says it's alright."

"I guess that that means everyone's up for it." Ryoga said with a smile.

"Nya, will he come too?" Eiji asked gesturing towards the hall where Leon was.

Echizen sighed. "As much as I don't want him to, he _is_ a good sparring partner and he can help with you control your magic and flight pattern."

"Waaa! Bocchan I'm so happy!"

Everyone heard a shout then a loud thud as Leon flung Karupin off of him, smacking him into a wall. He ran to where everyone was around the table and flung himself at Echizen.

"Bocchan! Thank you for including me in this activity of friendship!" he shouted as he caught the attempted escapee and pulled him into a hug that put Eiji's to shame.

"L-Let… g-go" Echizen managed to croak out.

"Oh Bocchan, I'm just so happy." He said completely ignoring Echizen's request.

"O-Oishi-sempai, h-help me."

"Ah! Leon-san, let go! He's turning blue!" Oishi immediately said in mother hen mode.

"Yaaa, blue is the color of love and friendship!" he said trying to giving Echizen the kiss that he gave Ryoga earlier that night.

Oishi tried to pry him off while Echizen was pushing his face away. Everyone else was laughing, enjoying the sight in front of them. Even Tezuka let a small smile cross his face. Just when Leon was going to plant one on the young prodigy, Echizen's cellphone rang. Leon stopped an inch from his face and Oishi stopped pulling on him and they both slowly let him go. He took his phone out and looked at the caller ID. His eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Excuse me. I need to take this." He answered it and went into the next room.

Everyone got up and peeked into the room he went in and listened to his conversation.

**(I'm going to put both sides of the conversation even though everyone can only hear Echizen)**

"Moshi Moshi?"

"_Ryo-chan! Where are you?"_ His mother practically screamed into the phone.

"What are you talking about Okaa-san? I'm at home."

"_Why didn't you answer the phone? I've been calling for the last ten minutes."_

He walked towards the phone and looked annoyed. "Someone left it off the hook." he said as he placed it back. He gave a glance to everyone that was staring at him around the corner but they quickly hid.

"_What do you mean 'someone'?"_

"My teammates are here."

"_Oh."_ She sounded relieved._ "Anyway, I called to tell you that your father and I won't be coming back for a few weeks."_

"Why?" His head dropped a little.

"_Well, next week is full of interviews for old sport magazines and TV shows. The week after that, somehow the court found out that I was here and requested my help with a case. And then the week after that we're going on a cruise. We won first prize in a random drawing."_

"Soka."

"_I hate leaving you alone for this long. Do you think that you can maybe get some of your friends to stay with you? I can wire you more money if you need it."_

"Ah. Sure."

"_Oi Rinko, come on. We're gonna be late." _Echizen could hear his father in the background._ "Coming! Ryo-chan, I promise we'll be home soon! I'll bring you home lots of souvenirs!"_

"Ah. Have fun."

"_Bye~~ Ryo-chan."_

He closed his phone and placed it on the end table then stood for a minute. He was turned away from everyone but they were almost certain that he was on the verge of crying.

"Ochibi/Bocchan." Eiji and Leon both whispered.

Ryoga unable to stand seeing his brother like that walked in and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Who was that?" he asked in a playful voice.

Echizen brushed away Ryoga's hand. "No one." He looked at him. "Hang up the phone next time."

"Eh? What do you mean Chibisuke?"

"You left it off the hook."

"I haven't made any calls."

Echizen gave him a questioning look then turned to everyone else who were now standing in the doorway. They all sweat dropped.

"Whoever it was, just don't forget next time." He said turning away from them.

"Where are you going Chibisuke?"

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." He said heading towards the stairs.

"Chibisuke. You have guests. Don't just leave." Ryoga said trying to grab at him.

He looked at Ryoga then at his sempai-tachi. "Like I said before, you're all welcome to stay. There's food in the kitchen and blankets in the closet." He gestured to the kitchen and hall closet then went up to his room. "Karupin, come here." Karupin came running up the stairs and joined him before he slammed his door.

There was an awkward silence. Everyone just stood there. They knew that Echizen was rude but this time it was different.

Ryoga caught sight of the phone that was left on the table and opened it to see who had called him.

"What are you doing?" Leon asked leaning over his shoulder.

"Checking to see who called him."

He went to the most recent calls to discover that his mother had called. His eyes filled with sorrow and hate. He slowly closed the phone and placed it back on the table.

"Well?" Leon questioned. "Who called?"

He was reluctant at first but answered nonetheless. "…Kaa-san."

Fuji's eyes opened.

Ryoga turned away from them. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" he said as he made his way up to Echizen's room.

"Uno, I don't really understand." Momo said scratching the back of his head. "What's so bad about your mother calling?"

"I'm not really sure." Leon said looking at the ground and placing his hand behind his head. "I'm not really familiar with Bocchan's parents from this world."

Fuji's eyes narrowed into a glare and Eiji noticed.

"Do you know something about it Fujiko?" he asked.

"Ah. Echizen told me about it not too long ago."

He then proceeded to tell everyone what Echizen had told him days before.

* * *

**Meanwhile upstairs  
**

Ryoga was outside of Echizen's room. He could hear quiet sobs coming from within.

"Chibisuke, I'm coming in." he said with a knock.

He saw Echizen lying on the bed with a full grow Karupin next to him, whom which he was hugging and crying into.

"Chibisuke," he said in a very calm and caring voice. "What did kaa-san tell you?"

Echizen kept sobbing.

Ryoga sat down next to him on the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder and asked again. "What did kaa-san tell you?"

Echizen answered but couldn't be heard properly given he was speaking directly into Karupin's fur. Ryoga moved his head down closer to Echizen's.

"…three weeks. She said they won't be home for three weeks. They would rather go on a cruise than be here with me."

Ryoga's heart sank.

"They always leave me alone for such long times. They probably won't even call again."

"You're not alone Chibisuke." Ryoga said getting ready to cry himself. "We're here for you. Me, Karupin, Leon and all your friends. We're here with you and we'll always be here."

Echizen sat up on the bed and faced his brother.

"Don't shut yourself up here. It's better to be with people who care about you."

Echizen began to ball. He buried his face in his brother's shirt.

"We're always here if you need anything. We won't leave you."

* * *

**Back downstairs**

"NANI! Ochibi got left alone in this big scary house for six weeks?" Eiji shouted.

"What kind of parents would do that?" Momo shouted in anger.

"He said it use to be fine. His cousin would always be here but she went to study abroad." Fuji said.

Everyone stood in silence for a moment. They all heard a door open then shut upstairs. They all looked to see Ryoga slowly descending the staircase. He saw them and gave a weak smile.

"What happened?" Tezuka asked.

Ryoga explained what Echizen had told him and what their mother told him on the phone. Everyone's hearts sank. How could they leave knowing that their kouhai felt like that? It was a Saturday night **(Hope it is. I lost track somewhere down the line.) **and they were invited to stay. No way were they going to leave now.

Ryoga got out some extra blankets and pillows. The regulars slept in the same spots as last time. Ryoga again told them not to hesitate to wake him if they needed something. He bid them goodnight and headed to bed. Before heading upstairs, he noticed Leon at the table.

"Leon, you alright?" he asked.

"There is so much I don't know about him." He said.

"Chibisuke?"

"I never knew he felt so lonely. I shouldn't be allowed to be here let alone call myself his devoted companion." He got up from the table and headed towards the door.

"If you leave now, you'll make him lonelier."

He stopped. "What?"

Ryoga let out a small chuckle. "He may not show it but Chibisuke values your devotion and friendship."

"Really?"

"He doesn't want to look weak so he keeps those emotions inside but deep down, he cares greatly for everyone who has entered his life."

Leon smiled. "I guess I still have lots to learn about him."

"Ah. Chibisuke is a mystery."

They both went upstairs into Nanako's old room and went to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Echizen awoke and traveled down stairs to find all of his sempai-tachi waiting for him.

"Ochibi, I'll always be here for you."

"Echizen, you can always count on me."

"100% chance you can come to me for anything."

"Saa, you _are_ like my second brother."

"Stay strong Echizen."

"Feel free to come and talk if you need it."

"Fsshhh… I'm here for you."

"We will be your support Echizen."

Echizen sweat dropped. _'Ryoga you bastard. You didn't need to tell them everything.'_ he thought.

"Hai, hai. Sempai-tachi are loud in the morning." Echizen walked through them and into the kitchen and started cooking breakfast.

"Nya Ochibi! I mean it! I'll never leave your side!" Eiji said clinging onto him.

"Me too Echizen! You can count on me!" Momo said joining Eiji in the hug.

Echizen tried to shrug them off but they wouldn't budge. Ryoga and Leon came downstairs to a very… _lively_ kitchen, you could say. Momo and Kaidou were fighting again, Taka was trying to make sushi, Fuji was adding wasabi to everything, Inui was gathering 'valuable data' from anything and everything in the kitchen and Oishi was trying to free Echizen from Eiji's death hug. Tezuka, on the other hand, was sitting at the table reading a book.

"Ohayou." He said as they came into the room.

"Ohayou." They both replied.

"Ne Ryoga, are they always like this?" Leon asked.

"Ah. You'll get used to it." He replied with a smile.

* * *

**Awwwwwwwe! Another touching brotherly love moment. I'm good at this.**

**I feel bad. I made it seem like his parents don't care at all but they really do love him!**

**I can say that this was the longest chapter so far. Nine pages later, over 2500 words. Maybe I'll write a book!... I'm not gonna write a book.**

**Okay now, big question: Would you want me to keep updating daily on chapter at a time or have me stop for like a week, finish the story and update it all at once? I'm gonna say that I can get about 5-7 chapters. I would REAALY appreciate if everyone gave me an answer!**

**You know the deal. Tell what you think in the reviews and please give me an answer! This will decide the future of the universe… sort of… of Echizen's universe at least.**

**And, you know, don't hate me for mistakes I made!**

**Review and comment. See ya later!**


	15. Never Again Inui Sempai

**Hi everyone! I finally figured out how the story is going to progress! Would you like to know? Even if you said no, I'm gonna tell you. **

***NEXT BIT CONTAINS SPOILERS*DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW***

**So, everyone's going to train at Echizen's house in the mountains and while they're there, they will have some…issues. They will all get their wings while they're there. They will stay there for a while and train more then will venture to the angel world somehow, have super mega battles with some old foes and then have the super-ultra-mega this-decides-the-fate-of-the-world battle with the fallen angel and… uh... yeah. So that's what I have planned so far.**

***SAFE TO READ***

**I still welcome suggestions if anyone has any. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this whole time! You guys are awesome!**

_**TwinkyLittleMe: **_**If you look **_**reeeeally**_** close you might see some MomoxRyoma or FujixRyoma. Other than that, I don't think that there will be any pairings. There will still be plenty of brotherly love and Leon being weird!**

**Being sick really doesn't help ideas flourish. **

**Yet again… own Prince of Tennis, I DO NOT… bad Yoda impression.**

**Now let's get on with life.**

* * *

"Ohayou." He said as they came into the room.

"Ohayou." They both replied.

"Ne Ryoga, are they always like this?" Leon asked.

"Ah. You'll get used to it." He replied with a smile.

* * *

Except of minor demon attacks, the next week went by smoothly and Friday had finally came. Everyone was at school and life went on as it normally had before. Echizen slept through all his classes, Momo was caught eating before lunch, Fuji was staring out the window, Eiji didn't know what page they were on, Oishi was taking notes, Taka forgot something, Kaidou was hissing, Inui was gather ingredients for his juice and Tezuka was **(for lack of knowing what he does) **being Tezuka.

Practice was also the same. Tezuka ordered matches and whoever lost got the pleasure of trying Inui's new 'juice'. The matches were as follows: Court One- Echizen vs. Taka, Court Two- Momo vs. Kaidou, Court Three- Oishi vs. Fuji and Court Four- Eiji vs. Tezuka. The losers, Echizen, Momo, Oishi and Eiji, all got to be the first to sample Inui's Ultra-Mega-Stamina-Boost-Golden-Power Inui Juice. Echizen, being on the first court and the loser, had to drink it first.

He looked at the so called 'vegetable juice' in front of him. It was a Tawny shade of brown with a tint of red in it. He reluctantly took the glass and downed it. Everyone groaned in horror and pity. The taste was something that couldn't be described but that wasn't the worst thing, it was chunky. He felt the chunks touch his tongue and go down his throat. He tried to make himself think he was drinking a milkshake with chunks of cookie dough in it but the flavor ruined it.

He removed the glass from his mouth. Everyone waited and listened for what was going to happen.

"Uno," Oishi started. "Echizen, are you alright?"

He didn't answer.

"Saa, maybe that means that he likes it." Fuji said. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Oi Echizen. Answer us." Momo gestured to put his hand on Echizen's shoulder but before he could, Echizen collapsed on the court, his eyes spinning. **(Anime style)**

"Ah! Ochibi!" Eiji shouted trying to rouse the boy. "Get ahold of yourself!"

The rest of the regulars looked at the juice.

"What the hell does he put in those things?" Kaidou hissed.

Inui looked puzzled. His drinks never worked this fast. He filled another glass. Eiji, Oishi and Momo cringed, fearing that it was for them. Inui instead took a sip from it and gave a slight cough.

"Hm… maybe this batch was too pungent… Ii data." He said writing in his notebook.

Everyone looked at him, shocked. If Inui's own creation was too much for him, how would anyone else stand it? Poor Echizen. He was out cold, his eyes still spinning.

"Tezuka, may I suggest making the rest run?" Inui suggested. "It seems that the calculations were off by 0.87%. If we have anyone else pass out, we won't be able to have a proper practice."

"Ah. Losers from the matches, 50 laps. Momoshiro, move Echizen to the shade before you start." Tezuka ordered.

"Hai!" There were no objections. Oishi and Eiji gladly started running while Momo moved Echizen to a bench out of the sun and then started running to catch up to his teammates.

* * *

Echizen still hadn't woken up by the time practice had ended. Everyone was a little worried.

"Inui-sempai, what exactly did you put in that drink?" Kaidou asked.

"I think some questions are better left unanswered." He said.

Kaidou sweat dropped.

"Anyway, Momo." Momo turned to look at him. "Do you think that you can take Echizen home?"

"I don't think that will be necessary Inui-sempai." he pointed to the gate. Leon and Ryoga were walking in.

When Leon noticed an unconscious Echizen on the bench, he ran to his side.

"Bocchan! What happened?" he shouted with tears forming in his eyes.

Ryoga walked up, looked at his brother then to Momo. He pointed to the cup of liquid on a different bench. Ryoga sweat dropped, not needing further explanation. He hoisted Echizen on his back and started home with Leon and Momo. Momo gave him and Leon a full description on what had happened that practice.

"Wait, he wasn't attacked?" Leon was slightly confused. "All he did was drink a cup of juice? What was in it?"

"Believe me when I say you don't want to know." Momo said not wanting to think about it.

Leon looked to Ryoga, still confused. Ryoga just shook his head. He didn't want to think about it either.

When they reached the house, Momo bid them farewell and biked home. Leon put Echizen's things in his room while Ryoga put his brother on the couch.

"I hope he'll be alright." Leon said with concern.

"He'll be fine… hopefully.' Ryoga replied saying 'hopefully' under his breath.

Not much later, Echizen awoke.

"Bocchan!" Leon said with relief.

"Yo Chibisuke. How do you feel?" Ryoga asked with a smile.

Before he could reply, he jumped up from the couch and ran towards the bathroom. Leon and Ryoga looked at each other then ran into the bathroom to discover Echizen slumped over the toilet.

"N-Never… a-again…" he managed to say between the mouthfuls of bile.

"Bocchan!" Leon ran to Echizen, holding his hair and rubbing his back.

Ryoga couldn't help but chuckle. He went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.

"I'm going to head to store and get something that will calm your stomach." He said handing Leon the water to give to Echizen.

"Don't spend… all the money, uhh, on junk food." Echizen said taking a sip of water then throwing his head back in the direction of the toilet.

"Yeah, yeah." Ryoga said heading out the bathroom door towards the front. "Oi Leon, you want anything?"

"Uno, a pack of gummy worms if you don't mind." He said hollering back. **(Just cause that's what I like)**

"Hai! Ittekimasu!" he shouted.

"Itterasshai!" Leon shouted back.

* * *

Ryoga was at the convenience store looking for something that would sooth Echizen's stomach. While there, he ran into Eiji.

"Ochibi no Aniki!" he said happily. "What are you doing here? How's Ochibi?"

"Well, he woke up." Ryoga said grabbing a litter of Sprite.** (Don't know of any Japanese sodas to calm an upset stomach. I'm improvising) **"He's been in the bathroom puking his guts out for a good half hour. I thought this might help calm his stomach."

"I hope Ochibi will be fine for tomorrow but do you really think all of that will help calm his stomach and not make him even more sick?" he gestured to the basket Ryoga was holding. It was full of chips, soda, candies and a lot of other random junk food.

"Ah, only this is for Chibisuke." he held up the bottle of Sprite. "The other things are for me." He said with a smile. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"I had to buy more toothpaste. My sister used up the last of my other one." He said with a pout.

Ryoga chuckled. They talked for a little longer and then checked out and left.

"Tell Ochibi I hope he feels better!" Eiji shouted as he ran down the street.

"Ah! I will! See you tomorrow!" Ryoga shouted in return.

* * *

He returned to the house to see Echizen passed out on the couch. His head was resting on Leon's lap.

"Tadaima." He said as he set his backs down on the table.

"Okaeri." Leon said flipping through the channels on TV.

"Well, this is a rare sight." Ryoga said. "Did he do this willingly or did you force him?"

"He said that he felt better but when he tried to go to his room he practically fell down the stairs." Leon replied carefully stroking Echizen's hair.

"That's just like him." He rummaged through one of the bags. "Here." He tossed Leon his bag of goodies.

"Domo." He caught them and began eating. "Ne Ryoga,"

"Nani?"

"Do you really think that they're ready?"

"To be honest, no."

"Then why are we going to train? What's the point?"

"So that they _will_ be when the time comes."

Leon groaned and lowered his head into a pout.

"Listen, I don't like the idea anymore then you do but the enemy is getting stronger. If we stay like this, the next attack could kill us. You said it yourself right?"

He looked at him.

"We are going to defeat all our enemies to come and then defeat the fallen angel. We cannot do that with our current level."

"But…" he hesitated.

"Don't worry. They'll be fine and we'll be there with them the whole time."

"I guess you're right."

The room filled with the quiet sound of the TV and the two older boys soon joined the younger one in a blissful sleep.

* * *

The two older boys awoke to the sound of a doorbell. They had slept for over nine hours. A groggy Ryoga got up and answered the door to see a group of tennis players in front of him.

"Ohayou!" they all said.

"Ohayou." Ryoga answer back. He invited them all in and they took a set on the couch. They all greeted a now awake Leon only to notice that the one who scheduled this meeting was missing.

"Where's Echizen?" Oishi asked.

Leon, only now noticing, went into a panic. Ryoga couldn't help but laugh as he practically tore the room apart looking for him. He pointed to an open door in the hall. All the regulars went to peek in the room. They saw Echizen hunched over the toilet again but he was asleep.

"He's been in there for at least an hour. Probably still feels sick from yesterday." Ryoga chuckled as he gave the regulars the explanation.

They all looked at Inui, which made him sweat drop multiple times.

There was a honk outside.

"Ah! That's our ride." Ryoga said peeking out from the bathroom. "Will someone wake him up and bring him outside? We'll bring out the bags." Ryoga said as he bolted upstairs to gather his, Leon's and Echizen's things.

"I'll take out all of you bags." Leon said grabbing the bags out of everyone's hands.

Fuji took it among himself to wake the young prodigy.

"Saa, Echizen, it's time to wake up. We have to get going soon." Fuji said as he gently rocked him back and forth.

Echizen grunted. "Don't rock me like that sempai. I feel like I'm going to be sick."

Fuji smiled then looked at Inui. "I think I'd like to try some of that juice Inui."

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Oi Echizen," Momo grabbed Echizen and pulled him out of the bathroom by his collar. "Come on. We can be seat buddies."

He pulled him to the front door and opened it to see Ryoga and Leon loading all their things into the big charter bus.** (You know, the fancy ones with bathrooms and leg room)**

"Ah. We're riding in this? Lucky!" Momo said going out the front door into the bus continuing to drag Echizen behind him.

The rest of the regulars followed and then Ryoga and Leon.

* * *

During the drive, Echizen had moved to his own seat and fallen asleep, Ryoga was trying to stop Leon from doing something to his brother, Momo and Kaidou started arguing about something, Tezuka and Fuji were reading, Inui was writing in his notebook, Taka was watching the scenery go by, Eiji was snacking and Oishi was making sure Eiji didn't choke on anything. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to get there. The bus stopped in front of a huge mansion looking cabin.

"Everyone, welcome to our winter vacation house." Ryoga said as the bus pulled to a stop.

"NANI?" everyone but Tezuka, Inui and Fuji shouted. "We're staying here?"

* * *

**Hmmm… not as well done as I would have wanted it to be… oh well.**

**How was it? Let's throw some humor out there before we go all serious. Poor Ryoma. What **_**does**_** Inui put in those drinks? No joke, I have to drink juices like that. They really are disgusting!**

**You know the drill. Tell me what you think, tell me what you want. Simple as that.**

**Forgive mistakes please. I'm so tired right now.**

**I'm going to take a little break for a while. I'll continue to write the story but it won't be updated until it's done. Give me about a week. If I write none stop, I can have it all out for you by Saturday or Sunday this week. Monday at the latest. Promise.**

**Hope you'll still be here when I get back!**


	16. Father's Livelihood

**Hello! It's been such a long week of anticipation hasn't it? I'll try my best not to disappoint!**

**Sorry to all who were hoping for pairings! I do love shounen-ai and yaoi but I'm not too good with writing it. Remember to look **_**reeeeeeeally**_** close and you might see some that was unintentional. **

**One more time. I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Enjoy the last few chapters! **

* * *

During the drive, Echizen had moved to his own seat and fallen asleep, Ryoga was trying to stop Leon from doing something to his brother, Momo and Kaidou started arguing about something, Tezuka and Fuji were reading, Inui was writing in his notebook, Taka was watching the scenery go by, Eiji was snacking and Oishi was making sure Eiji didn't choke on anything. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to get there. The bus stopped in front of a huge mansion looking cabin.

"Everyone, welcome to our winter vacation house." Ryoga said as the bus pulled to a stop.

"NANI?" everyone but Tezuka, Inui and Fuji shouted. "We're staying here?"

* * *

"I don't see what the big idea is sempai-tachi." Echizen said with a yawn. He had woken up from their shouts, got his things and walked to the front of the bus. Ryoga and Leon followed.

Everyone, snapping back to reality, gathered their things, thanked the driver and exited the bus.

"I'll be back in one week to come get ya." The bus driver said closing the door and driving off.

They all thanked the driver once again and he was gone. They all stood looking at the sight in front of them. How could Echizen call this a house? It looked more like Atobe's mansion but in the form of an old log cabin that the Three Bears would have lived in. **(from goldilocks and the three bears)**

While everyone was marveling at the so called 'house' in front of them, Ryoma, Ryoga, Leon, Tezuka and Fuji made their way to the front door.

"Unless sempai-tachi want to stay out here all day, get in here before I lock you out." Echizen called to them from the threshold as he let Karupin out of his carrier.

"Echizen! You never told us you were rich!" Momo said as he went to the door.

"I'm not rich Momo-sempai."

"Nya but how can you afford something like this if you're not?" Eiji asked as he and the others walked through the doorway.

"We barely come up here anymore and whenever we do we never stay long. Plus, this is what was left for me when Ojii-san passed away." He looked up to see that none of his sempai-tachi were paying attention. They were too busy taking in the sight of what it looked like from the inside.

The walls were oak and sequoia trunks with pictures hanging from them. There were beautifully placed lamps everywhere and small chandelier hanging over the center of the dining room. Next to the dining room, the living room was just as elegant. There were three chestnut red couches surrounding fire place and a TV that hung over it. The kitchen looked like it could have been on one of those professional cooking shows. There was a staircase which led to the second floor. There was a balcony and veranda at the top and hallways on either side. There were about seven rooms in each of the halls making fourteen in all; twelve bedrooms and two bathrooms.

"Ochibi, are you sure you're not rich?" Eiji asked with a smile still marveling at everything.

"Why do you make me pay for all our trips to the Burger Joint if you can afford this?" Momo said placing his hands on his hips.

"This place is really big!" Taka said looking in all the different rooms.

"This is really nice of you to let us stay here the whole week Echizen." Oishi said as he went into the living room and sat down.

"Echizen's family is able to afford such a place… Ii data…" Inui said going from place to place stopping every so often to write in his notebook.

"Saa Echizen, do you have a copy of this picture that I could have?" Fuji said pointing to a picture of Echizen when he was younger.

"Fsshhh… how big is this place anyway?" Kaidou said peering into several rooms, secretly fearing that he would get lost.

Tezuka was the only one who seemed unfazed by the greatness of the house. He did marvel at it for a minute but then sat down at the table and started reading.

Echizen sighed._ 'Why do I even bother?'_ he thought going up the stairs. "There are enough rooms for everyone to take their own. I suggest that you come claim them before the good ones get taken." He said going into the hall on the left hand side.

With that, all the regulars looked at each other and dashed up the stairs running towards the rooms they wanted. Momo, Kaidou, Taka and Eiji all ran to the left passed Echizen and Inui, Oishi, Fuji and Tezuka all calmly walked to the right. Just as Momo was about to throw his things onto the bed in the room he chose, he noticed Karupin sitting on it.

"This is my room Momo-sempai." Echizen said pushing past his sempai and placing his things on the bed.

"Ah! That's not far Echizen! Using your cat to claim your room in advance!" Momo said half shouting in annoyance.

"This has always been my room whenever we come up here and Karupin always comes up here." He said smirking. "Sempai-tachi, please open the windows and leave the doors open so the rooms can air out." He shouted to everyone from the doorway.

"Hai." Everyone replied.

Momo gave him an annoyed look and took the room across from him. In the left side hall on the left side was Echizen and Karupin then Kaidou, Taka then Leon. Across from them were Momo and Eiji. In the other hall was, left side: Fuji, Tezuka and Oishi. Across were Ryoga and Inui. There was an empty room next to Inui's and then the two that were at the ends of the halls were bathrooms.

"Oi Echizen, my light switch doesn't work." Momo shouted across the hall.

"Nya neither does mine Ochibi." Eiji shouted from down the hall.

Seemingly, everyone poked their heads out of his own room and towards Echizen's.

"Ah gomen minna-san!" Ryoga called coming out from his room. "We still need to turn the electricity and water on. Chibisuke! Come help."

"Hai." He replied in a bothered tone.

They both came out of their rooms and headed down the stairs.

"Do either of you need help?" Oishi asked popping his head out of his room.

"Iie Oishi-sempai. We'll be fine." Echizen said with a wave of his hand.

They both walked down stairs to the kitchen. They went to a door that was hiding in the corner and opened it. The door led down to the cellar. They both sweat dropped. Neither of them had liked it down there with all the times his father locked them in there for fun. Echizen sighed, brought out his wings, plucked a feather and retracted them. He chanted a small spell and it began to glow. He tossed it into the cellar and the darkness faded away.

They walked down into the now lit cellar and found the fuse box and water valve. For some unknown reason, Echizen had to turn on the water while all Ryoga had to do was flip a switch. **(Those things are hard to turn if they haven't been touched for a while) **He got the wrench and tried to turn it. After a few good tugs, it turned on.

Placing the wrench back, Echizen noticed something. There was a stack of boxes and in between two was a magazine. Being curious, he pulled on it, causing two boxes to crash on top of him. **(Let's say 2'x2'x1')**

"Itai." he said rubbing his head.

"Are you alright Chibisuke?" Ryoga asked offering his hand to his brother. "What's that?" he gestured to the magazine in his brother's hand.

Echizen looked at the magazine and his face immediately had lines forming on it. **(The anime style, don't really know how to describe it.)**

"O-Oyaji…" Echizen said as he formed his hand into a fist.

"Ah! Is that one of his magazines?" Ryoga chuckled. He helped his brother up and they both looked into the boxes that fell. They both sweat dropped.

They were full of their father's dirty magazines.

"Heh. No wonder he always liked coming here for vacations." Ryoga said with a small laugh.

Echizen was not amused like his brother. "Oi Ryoga," he started with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "We should have a fire later. I found the perfect thing to burn."

Ryoga sweat dropped.

They put the boxes back and headed upstairs to the kitchen and then up to their rooms.

"Echizen, are you two okay?" Taka said darting his head out of his room. "We heard a crash."

"Ah. It was nothing Kawamara-sempai." Echizen answered with an annoyed look. "The lights and water should work now." He yelled to everyone.

* * *

Everyone was in their rooms putting their things away. Echizen had finished and was lying on the bed with his feet hanging off and arm over his eyes. Karupin was walking around when he went under the bed and pushed something out from under it. It tapped Echizen's feet. Thinking that Karupin was the one that tapped him, he patted the bed and told him to come up. Karupin just meowed. Curiosity taking over, Echizen sat up on the bed and saw a small box at his feet.** (About the size of a shoe box)** He looked at it questionably and opened it. A vein popped. He shut the box, placed it on his bed and went out to Momo's room.

Even though the door was opened, he knocked.

"Momo-sempai."

"Echizen. Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Please excuse me." He went into the room and looked under the bed. The frowned as he found what he was looking for.

"Oi Echizen. What are you doing?"

Echizen came up from the floor with a box. "Sorry for disturbing you."

He exited Momo's room and returned to his own and put the box on his bed. He then proceeded to go to every one of his teammates rooms and come back to his own with a new box. He even went to the room that was unoccupied and came back with a box.

Everyone being interested, given Tezuka, gathered outside his room and looked at the boxes.

"Oi Ryoga." Echizen called to his brother. "Come here and help me."

Heeding his brother's calls, Ryoga approached his room and saw all the boxes.

"Are all of those more of…" he asked pointing at the boxes.

"Ah. Help me move them to the fireplace." He replied placing two boxes under each arm.

"Oyaji's not going to like that."

"He should be happy if I don't trash all the ones he hides at home. Leon, you grab the rest." Echizen was very aggravated.

"Uno Echizen, what's in those boxes?" Taka asked.

Echizen gave a wicked grin. "Kindling."

They all sweat dropped and followed the three downstairs to the living room where they watched Echizen start a fire and dump all the magazines on it.

"Echizen, what are those?" Oishi said as he caught a glimpse of some of the pictures.

"Kindling Oishi-sempai." He said with the same evil grin on his face.

Not wanting to pry into it any longer, everyone but Echizen returned to their rooms. They all heard a door downstairs open. It seems that he went into the cellar again and returned with the two other boxes. He continued burning the continents of the boxes for fifteen minutes.

* * *

When he was done destroying his father's livelihood, he went to the base of the stairs.

"Sempai-tachi is there anything special that you would like?" he called up to them. "I've got to go run to the grocery store. What do you want?"

Everyone proceeded to yell what they wanted at him. Unable to hear what they were all saying, he got a pen and paper, went up to the rooms and again proceeded to ask what they wanted. Getting everyone's requests, he went back downstairs and was about to walk out the front door until…

"Nya, Ochibi wait! We wanna come with!" he heard Eiji call and saw him, Momo and Leon running after him.

"Bocchan! It's dangerous if you go by yourself! I'll protect you!"

"Echizen! Don't leave without me!"

With that, both Leon and Eiji embraced him with their death hugs. They both looked at each other and glared.

"…Let go of Bocchan." Leon said glaring at Eiji.

"You let go. I got him first." Eiji glared back.

The two kept arguing, squeezing Echizen tighter with every word.

"…M-Momo-sempai… get… Oishi-…-sempai…" he managed to say as his face was changing to a shade of blue.

Momo hurried upstairs and returned with Oishi by his side. Taka was also with them in case it got violent.

"Oi! Both of you let go! You're suffocating him!" Oishi shouted in mother hen mode trying to pry the two off of the now blue Echizen. He managed to get Echizen from their grip but they kept on arguing.

"Echizen, daijobou?" Momo asked.

"A-Ah." He replied getting his breath back. "Kawamara-sempai."

"Hn?" he turned to face Echizen.

"Would you mind coming with to help pick out the fish?" Echizen lowered his hat to hide his slight embarrassment.

"Ara? Of course." He replied with a smile.

"Domo. Well, Ittekimasu Oishi-sempai!" Echizen said as the three headed out the door.

"O-Oi Echizen!" Oishi cried as he tried to keep Eiji and Leon apart. "Matte!"

"Ja~ne." he closed the door with a slight slam. The slam was enough to make Eiji and Leon stop fighting and come to their senses.

"Ara? Where'd Ochibi/Bocchan go?" they both asked simultaneously.

"He left." Oishi said putting his hands down.

"Eh? Alone?" they both questioned in a panic.

"Momo and Taka-san went with him."

"EHHH!"

* * *

The walk to the market only took about ten minutes. They all got there and began to shop for the things everyone requested and some other food for the week to come. Taka helped Echizen pick out the freshest fish they had while Momo went to the junk food isle and came back with snacks.

When they had finished their shopping, they returned to the house to discover Eiji and Leon sitting out front waiting for Echizen to return.

"Bocchan!"

"Ochibi!"

They both ran to him but before they could pull him into another death hug, he held out the bags he was carrying.

"Here" He said shoving the bags into their hands. "Bring these inside."

They took the bags and watched him walk into the house while stretching his shoulders.

"Nya, what was that for?" Eiji asked looking at the bags in his hands.

"Heh. They probably got heavy." Momo snickered.

Everyone followed him inside.

"Tadaima." He shouted as he went through the door and into the kitchen.

"Okaeri Chibisuke." To his surprise, everyone who had stayed behind was now in the living watching tapes of Nanjiro's tennis matches.

"Echizen, would you like any help making lunch?" Taka asked as he put the bags of food on the counter.

"Hai. Onegai Kawamara-sempai."

"Chibisuke, can I-" he was cut off when Echizen shot him a 'don't bother finishing your sentence' look.

"Ochibi, can we help?" Eiji asked pointing to himself, Momo and Leon.

"You can help by leaving us alone until lunch is ready Kikumaru-sempai." Echizen replied taking the food out of the store bags and putting it away.

"Mou! Ochibi's so mean!" Eiji pouted.

"Maa, maa. Let's leave them to cook." Momo said pushing Eiji out of the kitchen.

"If you need anything Bocchan…" Leon said following after Momo.

"I need you to leave us alone." He replied in an annoyed voice.

Leon pouted then went to the living room to watch Echizen's father and his tennis.

While making lunch, Echizen and Taka could here fraises like 'Kakkoi', 'Sugoi', and 'Ii data' coming from the living room.

* * *

When lunch was ready, everyone sat down in the dining room to discover that they were having curry with rice and fish and for dessert, chocolate mousse.

"Itadakimasu!" everyone said as they dug in.

"Waa! This is so good! Ochibi and Taka-san really out did themselves!" Eiji said spooning the curry into his mouth.

"Maa, this isn't anything special. This is what we both decided was the easiest to make on short notice." Taka said blushing slightly at the complement.

Everyone was keeping light conversation while they enjoyed their meal. They completely forgot what they had gone up there for.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, when are we going to start training?" Kaidou asked.

Everyone stopped eating. They had remembered that they didn't go to Echizen's oversized house just to spend time together.

He smirked. "When lunch is done, Kaidou-sempai."

* * *

**You know, I do enjoy your story but…. Where's my action? I like the brotherly love, comedy and sorrow but we need more action!**

**I know! The last few chapters have been sort of dull. After this one, I PROMISE that there will be **_**TONS**_** of action. I don't like reading those stories where the first part is all awesome then gets really boring. I promise that everything after this will be action packed.**

**And once again, please review. I know we're getting to the end but I'd still like feedback on how my first story went.**

**I can honestly say that this is the longest chapter yet. Over six hours of typing and **_**juuuust **_**over 3000 words.**

**What the hell is with all of the pr0n magazines hiding everywhere? Who knew Echizen would be so happy to burn all of them? How will his father react when he finds out? We'll never know… mainly because I don't wanna write about it.**

**Don't hate me for my mistakes!**

**See everyone in like… 30seconds at the next chapter! Bye!**


	17. Hall Of Mirrors

**Okay, maybe that was a little longer or shorter than 30seconds. Whatever as long as it's here right? **

**How will the training go? I still have no idea. :P **

**Next chapter ahoy! **

* * *

Everyone was keeping light conversation while they enjoyed their meal. They completely forgot what they had gone up there for.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, when are we going to start training?" Kaidou asked.

Everyone stopped eating. They had remembered that they didn't go to Echizen's oversized house just to spend time together.

He smirked. "When lunch is done, Kaidou-sempai."

* * *

Hearing that, everyone minus Tezuka, Fuji and Inui basically engulfed their food.

"If you eat like that, you'll feel sick later." Fuji said as he watched everyone.

"Demo, we need to hurry so we can start!" Eiji said spooning a small mountain of rice and curry into his mouth.

"Aa! Just like Eiji-sempai says!" Momo voiced in.

Echizen let out a small sigh. He finished his food, having a smaller helping than the rest, and took it to the sink.

"I'm finished. Sempai-tachi, leave the dishes in the sink when you're done. I'll be outside." He left the kitchen and headed out back.

"Where's he going?" Oishi asked.

"He going to set up your training grounds." Ryoga said with a smile.

* * *

When everyone had finished eating, some quicker than others, they left the dishes in the sink and went outside. They stopped just outside the doors to gaze at how big the yard was. Everywhere was green; there were a few trees here and there and a few fountains. There was even a small staircase leading down to the grass.

"Sugoi!" Taka said. "It's so big!"

Everyone was marveling at it until the caught sight of Echizen down the stairs and at the starting point of the grass.

"Oi Echizen! Why don't yo-mmph-" Momo's yells were stifled by Leon's hand over his mouth.

"Shizukani. Bocchan has to concentrate." He said placing his finger to his mouth.

They all slowly and quietly walked down the stairs and watched Echizen. He placed his arms out in front and started to chant.

'Kami-sama, I ask that you give me the power to change these surroundings, change them into a place where we may grow stronger. I ask to change it into the Dome of Implementation so that we will be able to defeat our enemies and retake what rightfully ours: Distortion.'

His wings unfurled and glowed with a magnificent light. Several of his feathers separated and went to several different places in the yard. The ground began to shake as a roof then pillars arose from where the feathers landed. The regulars all watched in awe as a building slowly made its appearance and the ground stopped shaking. Even though he called it a dome, it looked like a replica of Zeus' Temple. **(Like from Hercules) **

"N-Nani kore?" Eiji said looking at the temple like building.

"This? This is your training ground." Ryoga said patting him on the back.

They all walked towards Echizen, staring at the great sight before them.

"Ehh. This is really cool!" Momo said approaching Echizen from behind. "How'd you do it?"

He was about to clap Echizen on the shoulder when he fell to his hands and knees gasping for air.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Bocchan!" they all shouted.

"Echizen! Are you alright?" mister mother hen asked crouching besides him.

"T-That took more… energy than I thought." he said wiping his brow.

"What do you mean?" Fuji asked.

"Whenever we use spells, it physically drains you of your energy." Ryoga butted in. "Take a look at what's around his neck."

They all looked at Echizen's necklace. It looked like Ryoga's but the wings were the color of the sun and had a long sword going across. They looked at his then Momo, Eiji and Oishi looked at their own.

"Nya, why is his pulsating?" Eiji asked.

"He used up most of his energy summoning the training grounds. The pendants show how much stamina you have left. Normally, when you're doing day-to-day activities, it will just look like a normal piece of jewelry but when you do something drastic, it will start to glow and since he used such a great spell, it's alerting him not to do any other drastic things before it's fully charged again. Yours will do that too." He motioned to Momo, Eiji and Oishi.

The three looked at him then at the pendants around their necks.

"What happens when the light and color go away?" Momo questioned.

"Eto… let's hope that never happens." Ryoga answered rubbing the back of his neck.

"Will he be okay?" Oishi asked.

"I'm fine Oishi-sempai." Echizen said getting to his feet.

They all watched as his pendant stopped pulsating and went to a calm glow then disappeared. **(The glow, not the pendant)**

"Yosh. Ikuzo sempai-tachi." Echizen walked towards the entrance of the building and pushed the doors open. Everyone followed.

The inside looked nothing like the outside. Outside looked like an old monument for Greek Gods but the inside. The inside was a pure white cube with nothing in it.

"Uno, what are we supposed to do here Echizen?" Taka asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Ryoga side placing his hand on Taka's shoulder.

Echizen pulled away from the group and placed his hand on a wall. It glowed for a few seconds then stopped, causing five black X's to form on the ground.

"Kawamara-sempai, Kaidou-sempai, Fuji-sempai, Inui-sempai, Tezuka-buchou, go stand on the X's." Echizen said as he pointed to the small X's on the ground.

They all looked at each other with slightly confused faces then did as they were told.

"What's this for Echizen?" Tezuka asked stepping on one of the X's.

Echizen smirked. "See you in a few minutes." His hand started glowing again.

"Fsshhh… what do you mean by-" Kaidou was cut off when the floor beneath them vanished and they all slid down into darkness, their screams letting everyone know how far down they were.

The remaining regulars sweat dropped.

"Uno, Echizen, where did they go?" Oishi asked.

"They'll be fine sempai. I'm going to work with them while you three will stay here with these two and learn flight control, fighting styles and how to use spells." Echizen gestured to Ryoga and Leon then disappeared through a door that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"O-Oi! Matte Echizen!" Momo almost ran after him into the wall where the door had been.

"Yosh!" Ryoga clapped his hands. "Okay, I'll show you how to fly while Leon here will teach you how to harness your magic."

Momo, Eiji and Oishi looked at the smile on Ryoga's and Leon's faces. A chill went up their spines.

Kaidou, Tezuka, Fuji, Taka and Inui all landed in a room filled with mirrors of all different sizes: big, small, tall, short, ovular, rectangular. Some were cracked, some were brand new. Hanging from the ceiling, coming up from the floor. Some were even floating with nothing holding them.

"Fsshhh… where are we?" Kaidou hissed.

"Saa, it looks like a hall of mirrors." Fuji said looking at all the mirrors in the room.

"But why are we here?" Taka asked scratching his head.

"100% chance this is part of our trial." Inui pointed out.

"That's correct Inui-sempai." Echizen's voice came out of nowhere.

"Echizen, what are we doing here?" Tezuka pushed his glasses on his nose.

"Unlike the other sempai-tachi, you five have yet to gain your wings. You're here to fix that."

They all looked around for any sign of Echizen.

"Echizen, where are you? Why aren't you showing yourself?"

"It's not a good idea if I'm in there. In this room of mirrors are five that show the true you. You must find them and break them."

"Fsshhh… that should be easy." Kaidou stepped in front of a mirror. He saw what should have been there; eyes, nose, mouth, and bandana. He curled his hand into a fist, wrapped his bandana around it and punched the mirror. It shattered into hundreds of pieces. "What now?"

The shards turned black and reshaped themselves.

"What's happening?" Fuji asked.

"For every wrong mirror, a creature will show up. I don't know what kinds though; it's usually different with every time"

Kaidou watched the mass in front of him begin to take shape. It was a hellhound.

"What the hell is this Echizen?" Kaidou angrily asked taking a step back.

"Even if this is a simulation, you can be injured. Be careful. The more wrong choises you make, the more creatures will show, being stronger every time. The first few won't be tough but be careful. You need to find a way to defeat them and find your mirrors. Good luck sempai-tachi."

"O-Oi Echizen matte!" Taka cried out. "Now what?"

"I suggest that we do as he says and find the mirrors." Inui said pushing his glasses to his nose.

"Saa, but what about that?" Fuji pointed to Kaidou and the hellhound.

Kaidou began backing up. His head knocked on a mirror hanging overhead. Not thinking of the consequences, he took the mirror and smashed it over the hellhound's head. It vanished and Kaidou sighed with relief.

"Uno, Kaidou…" Taka pointed behind him.

"Gah!" another hellhound appeared.

"Why is it only going after him?"

"Saa, who knows. Let's just start looking." Fuji said walking away.

"S-Sempai!" Kaidou stuttered running from the hellhound.

* * *

"Aaaaahh! Ryoga-san, how do you steer these things?" Momo shouted as he flew face first into a wall.

"Haha. You'll get used to it soon." Ryoga said laughing at Momo. "Just try to copy Kikumaru-kun."

"Waa! This is so cool!" Eiji shouted with glee as he flew across the room. "Oishi! You need to try this!" He jetted over to where Oishi was learning how to summon and regulate his magic.

"Come on! It's super fun, Nya!"

"Kikumaru-kun, please be quiet." Leon said with an annoyed glare. "He needs to concentrate. Now, picture it appearing in your hands. Think of the shape, color, weight and power that it holds."

Oishi nodded and started to visualize. The shape: an orb. The color: bright yellow and orange. The weight: light as a feather. It's power. Apparently, he thought too much. A small orb started to grow in his hands.

"Good Oishi-kun!" Leon clapped his hands with pleasure. "Now try too… uno, Oishi-kun, why don't you…"

Oishi couldn't hear what Leon was saying. He just kept picturing it in his mind.

"…-kun. Oi…-kun. OISHI-KUN!"

Oishi snapped out of his trance to discover that the small orb was now the size of a basketball and still growing.

"Aah! W-What do I do Leon-san?" Oishi started to panic.

"Uh! Uno, try to release it!" Leon was also panicking.

With that, Oishi threw it into the air.

"What's going on down there?" Ryoga yelled. He saw the orb headed straight for Momo. "Momoshiro-kun, Watch out!"

"Haa? I told you. Call me Momo-ch-" Momo saw the orb and darted out of its way. "What was that?"

It bounced off the ceiling, the walls and the floor. Unfortunately for him, Echizen stepped in the room. He saw everyone panicking.

"What are you guys doi-" he was cut short by the orb bouncing in his face and exploding, making a smoke cloud around him.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Bocchan!" seemingly everyone but his brother called out.

"What was that?" he asked in a very annoyed tone as he coughed and waved away the smoke.

"Gomen Echizen. That was my fault." Oishi said rushing to him making sure he was okay.

"What kind of spell was that?" he moved to face Leon.

"Ah, well… uno…" Leon was looking at the floor, poking his fingers together.

He sighed. "It had a good amount of power. If you concentrate it to a smaller size, it could do some considerable damage." He patted Oishi on the shoulder. "After that, you can equip it to your weapons."

"Hai!" Oishi replied cheerfully.

"Nya Ochibi, look! I bet that I fly just a well as you now, maybe even better!" Eiji flew above him but ran into the wall.

"We'll have a race and see who the better flier is, Eiji-sempai." He said with a smirk then headed back to the door in the wall.

"Oi Echizen. Where're you going?" Momo asked trying to land.

"I was just checking in to see every ones progress, if any." He shot him a glance. Momo frowned at the comment. "I'm going to be with the others until they are done." He walked through the door and was gone.

* * *

"How many of these stupid things are there?" Taka and Kaidou both shouted as they ran from the things chasing them.

"Saa, who knows? This place could go on forever for all we know." Fuji said as he kicked a creature from his path.

"That is highly unlikely Fuji. It has to end somewhere." Inui commented as he also ran from a creature.

Now everyone but Tezuka was running around trying not to get mauled by the hellhounds, daredevils, demon dogs and other various creature of the underworld.

"How do I get myself into these things?" Tezuka asked rubbing his eyes.

"I ask myself the same question buchou." Echizen appeared out of nowhere.

"Echizen."

"Why haven't you broken any mirrors yet?"

"I haven't found the right one yet." Actually, he didn't want to break the wrong one and end up like the idiots in front of him.

"Echizen! Where have you been?" Taka and Kaidou shouted. "Make these things stop!"

"Not until Buchou breaks one." He crossed his arms and glanced at Tezuka with a smirk.

Tezuka realized that no matter how many laps he could threaten Echizen with, he wouldn't make the creature stop unless he broke a mirror. He sighed and glanced around for one. He came across a fairly normal sized ovular one, grabbed it then hocked it to the ground. It shattered into many tiny pieces and all the creatures stopped.

"Finally. Thanks Echizen." Taka said as he stopped running and caught his breath.

"That wasn't me Kawamara-sempai." He answered looking a little confused.

All the creatures had vanished and the ground began to shake. All the mirrors broke. The shards turned black and came together in front of everyone.

"Echizen, what's happening?" Inui asked.

They all stared at the huge black mass in front of them. It started twisting and turning, molding itself into a form.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, what is that?" Kaidou questioned with a bit of fear in his voice.

Echizen was just as startled and frightened as the rest of his teammates. One word managed to escape his lips.

"C-Chimera."

* * *

**I know. I know. This chapter was corny. I typed it in two nights. It's what being sick does to you. Still, hoped everyone liked it! I really have no idea where I was going with the whole mirror thingy but I think it turned out alright.**

**You can review or not. I would prefer if you did though. It would inspire me to write more stories if you did!**

**Thank you to everyone that has stuck with me all this way and played along with all of my stupid antics! And to everyone that has reviewed and subscribed! You guys are wonderful!**

**Sorry for mistakes! Getting close to the end and not really caring as much but I'm doing my best to please everyone!**

**See you in like… let's say, 15seconds. Bye!**


	18. Chimera

**I know. The last chapter was weird and confusing but it done and you'll never have to read it again… unless you want to.**

**So much for finishing in 15-20chapters. I really don't think that that will be the case. Let's say somewhere up to 25. That seems like a good number.**

**I re-uploaded chapter one if anyone cares.**

**Haven't done this in a while, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Okay enough blabbing. Let's get on with the story! **

* * *

"Echizen, what's happening?" Inui asked.

They all stared at the huge black mass in front of them. It started twisting and turning, molding itself into a form.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, what is that?" Kaidou questioned with a bit of fear in his voice.

Echizen was just as startled and frightened as the rest of his teammates. One word managed to escape his lips.

"C-Chimera."

* * *

The upper half of a lion and lower half of an ox. The head of an eagle and tail being a snake. It was completely black except for the eyes, they were a bright red.

"What?" Tezuka asked with his voice a little shaky.

"A rare creature of the underworld." Echizen said taking a step back. "I remember Ryoga telling me about them. They are supposed to be one of the strongest and most vicious creatures you'll ever meet. I've been in this room plenty of times and I've never thought that this would ever appear."

"Saa, maybe Tezuka was too much for this room to handle." Fuji said with a small smile. Tezuka shot him a glare.

"Uno, do we need to defeat that thing?" Taka asked pointing to it.

"Fsshhh, I'll take it down with one punch." Kaidou took a step forward and cracked his knuckles.

"There is a 100% chance that would not work." Inui said checking his notebook.

They all watched the beast take a step closer and growl.

"Saa, what now Echizen?"

It lunged at them. Echizen took the insinuative and expanded his wings and lunged at the creature.

"Go sempai-tachi! I'll hold it off!" he yelled.

"But don't we need to defeat it?" Taka asked.

"Iie! This isn't part of the trial! Only low level creature should be able to materialize in here. Now go!" he took out his sword and began to fight the chimera.

"What about-"

"Just go! I'll catch up."

The five regulars, against their will, started to run and left Echizen to fight the chimera.

* * *

After a few minutes of running, the regulars stopped to catch their breath.

"Do you… think Echizen… is alright?" Taka asked between breaths.

"He's a strong person." Fuji answered.

"Fsshhh… this place really does seem like it goes on forever." Kaidou hissed.

"Again, that is highly improbable." Inui said adjusting his glasses.

Tezuka looked around for any signs of an exit but everywhere was white. There was a sudden explosion. They all looked back to see Echizen flying towards them; the chimera nowhere in sight.

"Echizen!" they all called in unison.

"Are you alright?" Taka asked.

Echizen flew to them and landed in front of them. "You're beginning to sound like Oishi-sempai, Kawamara-sempai." He said with a smirk.

"What happened to the chimera?" Tezuka asked.

"I managed to stun it but I'm not sure how long it will last. We need to leave."

"Fsshhh, how do we do that?" Kaidou questioned.

"Normally, you would be let out when you got your wings but seeing as that thing is here, that will not be possible." He said putting his hand on his side.

"Can't we leave like you've been doing?"

"That's easier said than done Kaidou-sempai. When I leave, it doesn't take much power to open a doorway but when escorting a group, it becomes more difficult." He stood away from them. "I'll try but I don't know if it will work."

He stood about three feet from them and tried to conjure a way out. There was a snarl.

"Echizen! Habuni!" Everyone shouted as the chimera appeared out of nowhere and launched itself at Echizen.

Noticing too late and not being able to react quick enough, the chimera jumped in front of Echizen and struck him to the floor. He yelled out in pain as he slid across the ground on his back.

"Echizen!" the cries of his teammates could be heard as he came to a stop. The all began to run to their fallen kouhai.

"Don't!" he tried to hoist himself up but the chimera was there and pinned him down. The paw on his chest was crushing his lungs making it difficult to breathe. "Don't… come any… closer!" he gasped out. The chimera then dug its claws into his chest causing him to let out a blood curdling scream.

"ECHIZEN!" they ignored his command of staying away and sprinted behind the huge beast.

"Let him go you bastard!" Kaidou yelled.

The snake posing as its tail came to life and swept all the regulars back sending them flying.

"S-Sem…pai-t-tac…hi…" Echizen managed to squeak out a plea to see if his sempai-tachi were alright before screaming in pain again.

They all hit the ground with a thud.

"Kuso." Kaidou said wiping his mouth.

They all got back up and ran at the beast again only to be thrown back again.

"S-Semp…ai…ta…chi, Stop… i-GAAAH!" Echizen let out another scream as the chimera deepened its claws.

"Echizen!" they all shouted getting up from the floor yet again.

'_That bastard! I need more power!'_

'_If only I were stronger!'_

'_Echizen, we will find a way to stop this!'_

'_Even if the percentage is small, we will save you!'_

'_We will become your support Echizen!'_

The regulars all started to glow. The chimera took its paw from Echizen's body causing him to let out a small whimper and gazed at the glowing beings in front of it. There was a mixture of colors and flutter of feathers. There they were. The owners of the crimson, gold, maroon, hazel and white wings all stood with weapons in their hands and lunged forward at the beast, propelling their weapons into it. It let out a screech of pain and started to disintegrate.

"We are guardians and this is our prince. Touch him and you will be disposed of." They all seemed to be oblivious of what they were saying; all in a sort of a trance but quickly snapped out of it when they saw their young teammate lying on the ground motionless.

"Echizen!" the all ran and knelt down beside him.

"Se…mpai-…ta…chi look so off…ici…al now." Echizen managed to say as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

"Echizen! Hold on!" Tezuka was a little panicked. "We'll get out of here and get you help!"

"No… need bu…chou." He held his hand up. "I c…an't die in a… place like…this…" the regulars watched as Echizen's hand fell to the ground and he remained motionless.

"Echizen!" they all shouted.

"Echizen, this is no time for jokes." Fuji said as his eyes shot open.

"E-Echizen…" Kaidou looked like he was going to start crying.

Taka and Inui were speechless. Tezuka just looked at his blood cover kouhai in front of him, unable to comprehend what just happened.

There was a small light radiating from Echizen's pendant. It got bigger and bigger until in engulfed his body. They regulars stared with amazement and confusion. Echizen slowly rose off of the floor until he was above everyone else's heads. They watched as the holes in his clothes and blood slowly disappeared. He was placed up right and lowered to the floor.

Inui, Fuji, Taka, Kaidou and Tezuka watched, waiting for something to happen.

"Echizen?" Taka took a step toward him.

They heard a mumble but couldn't make out what he was trying to say.

"Echizen, what just happened?" Fuji's eyes narrowed.

Again, they heard a mumble but couldn't hear what was said.

"Echizen, are you alright?" they all stood.

"ITAI!" Echizen shouted at the top of his lungs causing everyone to jump back, even Tezuka. "THAT HURT LIKE HELL!"

"Echizen, what happened? Are you alright?" Taka was starting to sound like Oishi.

"You really are starting to sound like Oishi-sempai. I'm fine Kawamara-sempai." He looked at all of them. They all had looks of relief and horror. "What are you so surprised about? Did you think I died? I told you, I can't die in this place. None of it is real, only a simulation."

A vein popped on each of their heads.

"Oi, didn't you say that that thing wasn't part of training?" Kaidou said while glaring at Echizen.

"Technically, it wasn't. I didn't plan for it to show up but I thought that it was a good opportunity to make training go by faster." He placed his arms behind his head.

Several more veins popped.

"Echizen, how do we get out of here?" Fuji tried to keep a calm and cool composure.

"The door." He pointed to a door that appeared out of nowhere.

"How long has that been there?" Inui asked.

"The whole time you have been in here." He turned and started walking towards it.

"E-CHI-ZEN." He heard the angry sempai-tachi behind him. He turned to see the level of annoyance in their eyes rising and figured it was a good idea to start running.

* * *

"Haah." Oishi sighed. "This is harder than it looks." He was now with Ryoga learning how to fly while Eiji and Momo were with Leon. Eiji was practicing little spells while Momo was sparring with Leon.

Momo's sword flew out of his hands and landed on the floor.

"Gah. Not again. This is hard." Momo scratched his head.

"Don't worry Momoshiro-kun. You'll get the hang of it sooner or later." Leon said tapping his sword on his shoulder. **(Like how Echizen and Momo do with their rackets)**

"Hopefully. Was Echizen ever like this?"

"Bocchan? I'm actually not sure. When we were reunited years ago, he was just as perfect a swordsman as he is today… Ryoga."

"Hn?" he glanced down at them. "Nani?"

"Was Bocchan ever incapable with a sword?"

"Heh. Iie. He's had a natural talent for swordplay ever since he was able to lift one."

"Nya, where is Ochibi?" Eiji said looking around the room.

"He's been gone for a while." Oishi said with a touch of mother hen in his voice.

"He probably still training with the others. He should be back soon." A door appeared out of nowhere. "Speak of the devil."

Oishi and Ryoga lowered themselves to the floor and joined the others. The all watched Echizen come flying **(running but really fast)** out of the room.

"Yo Chibisuke, how'd it…" Echizen ran past him. "…go?"

"Ochibi!" Eiji tried to confine him in a hug but knowing that letting him would seal his fate, he brought his wings out and flew to the ceiling. "Nya Ochibi, what gives?"

"Urasi Kikumaru-sempai!" he quietly shouted. **(Oxymoron anyone?)**

"Haa? What are you talking about Ochibi?" Eiji then turned to face the doorway and saw three sets of red eyes glaring at him. "Nya! Kowaii!" he ran and hid behind Oishi.

Just then Kaidou, Taka and Fuji stepped from the door followed by Inui and Tezuka.

"Where is he?" Kaidou, Taka and Fuji not so much asked but commanded them to tell.

The others, all hesitant to answer, looked at each other wondering what had happened in the other room.

Tezuka adjusted his glasses. "Tell us where he is or you will all run 40 laps around the building."

They all sweat dropped and pointed above them. The five looked up and saw Echizen hovering just below the ceiling.

"Echizen, come down here." Tezuka ordered.

"Yadda." He got closer to the ceiling.

"I have a new juice for you to try Echizen." Inui pulled a bottle from God knows where.

"Saa, we just want to talk." Fuji had on a sadistic grin.

Taka couldn't say anything. He was too busy trying to repress himself from going burning.

"Fsshhh… if you don't come down then we'll come up." Kaidou unfolded his wings and flew at Echizen. Fuji and Taka followed.

"Waa! Sugoi!" Eiji was entranced by the sight.

"How'd this happen?" Momo asked with a smile.

Inui and Tezuka proceeded to tell of what happened in the mirror room but were constantly interrupted by Echizen's screams from what his teammates were doing to him. **(Use your imagination)** When the story was over Fuji, Taka and Kaidou returned to the floor with Echizen who looked more than a little traumatized.

Tezuka stood over him. "Echizen, 100 laps around the estate." Not saying a word, Echizen got up and left to start his laps.

"What did you do to him?" Leon asked.

They all just smiled.

* * *

By the time Leon and Ryoga had finished explaining and showing how the training was going to work for the next week, it had gotten dark and was time for dinner.

"Waa. That was hard. We have to do this for a whole week?" Momo complained.

"Saa, that's not to different from what we do during tennis." Fuji said.

They all sweat dropped._ 'How is learning how to fly, using magic and sword fighting not different from our normal practice?'_

They all went inside and noticed that Echizen must have been cooking because it smelt like fish and rice.

"That smells good Nya." Eiji said smelling the air.

Ryoga made his way to the kitchen. "Oi Chibisuke," he stopped and looked but saw no little brother in sight. "Where are you?"

"Shizukani Ryoga." Leon whispered rather loudly from the living room.

Echizen was passed out on the couch with Karupin on top of him.

"Kawaii." Fuji said. "Ne, Tezuka?"

Tezuka didn't answer but looked at him with his stoic stare.

"Hey, is this for us?" Taka shouted from the dining room.

They all ventured into the dining room to discover that plates had been set in eleven places where their dinner was waiting for them. Ryoga went to his seat and found a note with four words on it.

'_Yes, they're for you.'_

He smiled and set it back down. "Ah minna. Chibisuke made us dinner."

The regulars all gladly sat down and started eating. Ryoga looked at the note again.

'_He's always thinking of others.'_

* * *

**Well? The ending to this chapter is kinda corny but hey, I'm tired and wanna go to bed. **

**Let's see, next chapter will probably be them back at school doing all that fun stuff then going to the angel world and having an epic battle. Not too sure but most likely unless I think of something else by tomorrow.**

**Did you like it? I hope so. Thanks for everyone sticking with me!**

**Please to forgive mistakes. Night is not the best time to be typing and rereading this :P**

**See ya next chapter!**


	19. New Kind Of Training

**Okay! Got some good ideas, hopefully, and am ready to type, not at all. I've actually been putting this off until later in the day. I am a very bad procrastinator. Hopefully this will all be out by Monday. Still got at least another two or three chapters to do after this.**

**Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and subscribing! You guys give me the will to live! Well, you and chocolate :D**

**Once more for the road, I DO NOT nor EVER WILL own Prince of Tennis. **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

"Hey, is this for us?" Taka shouted from the dining room.

They all ventured into the dining room to discover that plates had been set in eleven places where their dinner was waiting for them. Ryoga went to his seat and found a note with four words on it.

'_Yes, they're for you.'_

He smiled and set it back down. "Ah minna. Chibisuke made us dinner."

The regulars all gladly sat down and started eating. Ryoga looked at the note again.

'_He's always thinking of others.'_

* * *

The remaining time that was spent at the mansion-house was consisting of Echizen waking up before everyone to make breakfast, relaxation for about an hour or two, running around the estate per Tezuka's orders then into the training grounds. The inside was different every day. First day it was completely white. The next it was completely black and a few days later, it looked like one of those old dojos that samurai train in. Ever since Tezuka, Fiji, Taka, Inui and Kaidou got their wings, the training has consisted of learning how to fly properly, being able to call for simple offensive and defensive spells and sparring with Leon and Echizen.

It was now Friday and seeing that they were all leaving Sunday morning, Echizen figured that it was time for a different kind of training. As usual, the morning started out with Echizen making breakfast for everyone. He set out the food and was getting the drinks when he noticed a jug of orange juice. **(I see where this is going)**

'_I don't remember buying this.' _He thought._ 'I wonder how long it's been in here.'_

Wanting to see how fresh it was, he took a swig of it. That was a mistake.

* * *

Everyone else had awoken to the smell of Echizen's cooking. They all came out of their rooms and met at the top of the stairs.

"Ohayou." They all greeted each other and went downstairs to the dining room. Karupin was eating his breakfast next to the opening.

"Waa! Ochibi always out does himself when he cooks." Eiji said sitting in his seat.

"You wouldn't even think that this was made by someone his age." Oishi smiled and took a seat next to him.

They all took their seats and started to eat.

"Fsshhh… where is Echizen?" Kaidou asked.

"Saa, maybe he's still making something." Fuji said.

"Ara? There are no drinks today." Momo pointed out.

"Ah. I'll get them. Bocchan probably forgot." Leon got out of his chair and headed to the kitchen.

"Arigatou Leon-san." Taka said.

"It's nothing." He gave a wave and walked into the kitchen. "Bocchan, you didn't set out the- Bocchan!"

Everyone heard Leon's shout and went to the kitchen to see an unconscious Echizen on the floor with Leon kneeling besides him.

"What happened?" Oishi asked turning into the mother hen.

"I-I don't know. I came in to help Bocchan with the drinks and he was just lying on the floor."

"Hn? What's that?" Kaidou pointed to something.

Ryoga went to see what it was. "It's an orange juice container… I don't remember buying this the last time we went to the shop."

Inui's glasses gleamed.

"Aah! What if that was put here by the enemy and it was poisoned and Bocchan took a drink of it and know he's dying?" Leon started to panic with tears forming in his eyes.

"Nyaa, I don't want Ochibi to die! Oishi!" Eiji started to sob on Oishi's shoulder.

"Saa, I don't think that's the case Eiji." Fuji took the container from Ryoga. "Ne, Inui?"

They all started at Inui. He adjusted his glasses.

"Inui-sempai, don't tell me, that's…" Momo looked horrified.

"Ultra Special Deluxe Bronze Remix Inui juice. It's good for the body and replenishes strength." He said taking the container and drinking a big gulp.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Poor Echizen. He probably thought that it was orange juice and drank some unsuspectingly." Taka said.

"I wonder how long he's been out." Momo said scratching the back of his head.

"Not long enough Momo-sempai." Echizen placed his hand over his eyes.

"Ochibi!"

"Bocchan!"

Echizen got up and placed his hand on his head and glared at Inui. "Inui-sempai, please do not store your experiments in juice containers."

Inui adjusted his glasses again and pulled out his notebook. "Ii data."

After carefully dispensing of Inui's concoction, everyone returned to the dining room and finished breakfast. All but Echizen. He went to lie down on the couch, trying to recover from his horrible experience.

* * *

When everyone was done, they followed Echizen to the temple like training area. They went inside and discovered that, once again, it had changed. The inside was black with green lines making it look like they were all in a computer. **(Sorry don't know how to describe it better. Try to think of graph paper but the paper being black and the lines being green) **

"Waa! This is cool!" Taka said with amazement.

"What are we going to do in here when it's like this?" Inui asked while scribbling in his notebook.

"Simple Inui-sempai. You need to get from here," he pointed to where they were standing, "to there." then cross the room.

"Is that all?" Momo said clapping Echizen on the back. "Here I go!" He took off to the other side of the room.

"There is _one_ small thing Momo-sempai." Momo glanced back and saw Echizen smirk. "You must do so while dodging these." Echizen placed his hand one the wall and a square pillar appeared in front of Momo, which he crashed into.

"Itai!" he said rubbing his nose. "What the hell Echizen?"

"That's not all." Echizen grinned. Another pillar came from the wall and almost crashed into him. Then one from the ceiling. Not wanting to get crushed, Momo began running back to the group.

"There are these too." The floor opened right in front of Momo almost causing him to fall into it. Luckily, he managed to jump over it and make it safely back to the start. **(If you've ever seen TMNTFF, think of episode 15 in the beginning. That's the look I'm going for)**

"Echizen!" Momo ran to him and placed him in a headlock. "What the hell? I could have died!"

"You're fine! Its sempai's own fault for not waiting for the rest of the explanation!" he managed to escape Momo's grasp.

"Fsshhh… baka."

"Nani? I'd like to see you try to get through that, baka Mamoshi!"

"Fsshhh…" With that, Kaidou then took off to the other side but unlike Momo, he expanded his wings and flew over.

"Hmph. That's cheating, Kaidou-sempai." Echizen expanded his own wings and flapped them in Kaidou's direction, making his wings disappear.

He landed on the ground with a thud and jumped out of the way of a pillar coming straight for him.

"What was that for?" he asked in an aggravated voice.

"You need to raise your agility without using our wings. There will be some cases where it would be better to be on the ground and not in the air. We'll work on special flight training later." He looked at his teammates. "Well, get going."

"Eh? We have to go out there?" Eiji pointed to Kaidou running and dodging as pillars that threatened to crush him.

Tezuka, Fuji and Inui took off to join Kaidou in his quest to the other side.

"They always were the ones to take action first." Oishi sweat dropped.

"I don't know. I'm a little nervous." Taka scratched the back of his head.

"Hai, Kawamara-sempai." Echizen handed him a racket that he formed from a feather.

"WOAH! BURNING! I'LL GET TO THE OTHER SIDE SUPER QUICK BABY!" Taka had transformed into burning mode and ran onto the field.

"Taka-san… Echizen, you'll never get me back out there!" Momo protested. Echizen went behind him and kicked him, causing him to fall right over a hole. "Aah! Echizen you bastard! Help me!"

"Momo!" Oishi couldn't stand to see his teammate in danger so he ran out to the field and pulled Momo out of the hole.

Eiji kept looking from the field to Echizen. He didn't know which was worse; staying with Echizen or going out onto that field.

"Kikumaru-sempai, if you don't hurry, you'll be the only one left."

Eiji looked in Echizen's eyes. He could tell that if he didn't go out to the field that something much worse would befall him.

"Nya, Ochibi's so scary!" he ran out to the field with his hands raised high, running and jumping over obstacles in his path.

* * *

After about an hour, everyone finally made it to the other side of the room.

"Gah. That was harder than I thought!" Momo gasped as he fell to the floor.

"I'm never doing that again." Kaidou said leaning on the wall.

"Sempai-tachi, you can't rest now." Echizen was now on the other side with them.

"Wa? Echizen how'd you get over here?" Taka asked out of burning mode. The racket disappeared halfway through.

"That doesn't matter. You need to get over to the other side." He pointed to the other side.

"Eh? But we just got came from there." Oishi complained.

"Seeing that over there is the only way out, you don't have a chose."

"Saa, this should be fun." Fuji said with a smile.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"Well, let's get this over with." Momo side walking back to the field.

"Wait Momo-sempai." Echizen stopped him and went to the field himself. He went a few feet in front of them and held out his hand. It stated to glow and the field started to change. The floor under him vanished and he was floating over abyss.

"Echizen, how are we supposed to get over with no floor?" Momo looked at him with annoyance and confusion.

"Hn. Easy Momo-sempai." He dropped into the abyss below.

"Waa, Echizen!" Everyone watched as he dropped farther down into the darkness.

"You must-," they heard Echizen's voice. "-jump across-," they saw a pillar rise up with him on it. "-the pillars." It went well over their heads and could barely see the top.

"What do you mean Echizen?" Tezuka asked stretching his neck to see.

"You must get to the other side by jumping across on the pillars." More pillars appeared, stopping at various heights.

"Nya, this seems like it's easier than the other way." Eiji jumped out on to a pillar.

"Eiji! Be careful!" Oishi was in mother hen mode.

"Nya, its fine Oishi. It'll be fun." He tried to jump to another pillar when it suddenly grew. He just managed to catch the edge of it.

"Waa, it moved!" he said trying to pull himself to the top. "Ochibi, what is this?" he whined.

"I can't make it too easy. What would be the point of that?" Echizen smirked and hopped to another pillar. "This is a good chance for everyone to get used to summoning their wings in a tight situation. If you fall, summon your wings and fly back to the pillar but you can't use them to fly to the other side." He made his wings appear and tried to fly to the end but they disappeared, causing him to fall onto a pillar. "Or less that will happen."

They all sweat dropped, hesitant to go. They all watched as Echizen was jumping from pillar to pillar and made it to the other side in no time. They all stood in amazement. He got to the other side in a matter of about three minutes giving the size of the room, it was about the size of a football field.

"Try to hurry sempai-tachi." He yelled to them from the other side. "I'll be in the house making the next meal." He said and walked out the door.

"Echizen matte!" Taka tried to shout to him but he was gone.

"Don't worry. We won't let anything happen." Ryoga placed his hand on Taka's shoulder and Leon gave him a smile.

"Nya, hurry up and come out here!" they all heard Eiji call for them.

Still reluctant to go, Tezuka took the initiative and got them 'motivated'.

"Minna, get out there now or 30 laps."

The remaining regulars all hurried and jumped out onto a pillar. Tezuka, Leon and Ryoga followed.

* * *

They had been in that room for longer than they thought. When everyone was finally out, the sun was starting to set.

"It's already sunset? It doesn't seem like we were in there for that long." Oishi commented.

"Saa, time flies when you're having fun." Fuji said with a smile.

Everyone gave a sarcastic laugh and sweat dropped.

"Well, let's get inside and eat." Momo said placing his hands behind his back.

"Fsshhh, is that all you think about?" Kaidou hissed.

"What was that Mamoshi? You wanna go!"

"Bring it on Peach butt!"

"Calm down you two! Let's just go inside and eat." Taka said prying them apart.

"Let me go Taka-san! He's insulted me for the last time!"

"Momoshiro, Kaidou, stop or 10 laps." Tezuka belted out.

Not wanted to run, they stopped and headed to the door quietly. The ground suddenly began to shake.

"Eh? Nani?" Eiji held on to Oishi for stability.

"What's happening?" Inui holding onto his notebook.

"Minna, look!" Taka pointed to the training grounds.

Everyone turned to see it slowly began to sink to the ground.

"Why is that happening?" Leon asked turning to Ryoga.

"Chibisuke's stamina must have run out." He replied falling to the ground.

"Saa, what do you mean?" Fuji asked as the shaking stopped and the building was no more.

"Being able to summon something that size and for a week straight requires a lot of concentration and power and puts a great strain on the body. I'm surprised to see that he was able to keep it standing for so long without a problem. I don't even think that the top mage in the angel world was able to do it for that long."

"Do you think something happened to him?" Oishi asked very worriedly.

Ryoga just stood there thinking. He didn't know what to tell them. There was no real reason that it should have collapsed without warning.

"OCHIBI! DAIJOBOU!"

"BOCCHAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

Eiji and Leon both went yelling into the house.

"Oi sempai, matte!" Momo yelled as he ran after them. Everyone but Tezuka, Fuji and Ryoga followed.

"Maybe…" Ryoga mumbled under his breath.

"Hm? What is it Ryoga-san?" Tezuka saw that Ryoga looked troubled.

"Ah, it's nothing. Let's go see what's happening." He walked into the house with a small smile. Tezuka and Fuji followed.

When inside, they joined with Oishi, Taka, Inui, Momo and Kaidou who were standing at the entrance of the living room. They were all watching Leon and Eiji fuss over not finding Echizen.

"Where is he? He's always in here!" Eiji shouted looking under a pillow.

"Bocchan! Doko ikuno?" Leon yelled as he started moving the couches to look under them.

Ryoga sighed and put his hand on his head. "Leon, please don't move the couches and please put the pillows back properly Kikumaru-kun. Did you two even bother to look in his room?"

They both stopped and looked at him then at each other, both glaring.

"OCHIBI!"

"BOCCHAN!" They both ran out of the living room and ran up the stairs. The rest calmly followed.

Despite the fact that they were very loud and noisy downstairs, they quieted down when they got to the top of the stairs. They went to Echizen's room to see him lying on the bed with an arm and leg hanging off with the other leg on the bed and arm on his eyes.

"Ochibi/Bocchan!" Eiji and Leon both yelled when they saw him, thinking that he had collapsed.

"Hn? What?" Echizen lifted his arm from his eyes and looked at them.

"Ochibi/Bocchan! You're okay!" They both jumped on him.

"Eh? L-Let me go!" Echizen tried to escape their grasp but failed miserably. "O-Oishi-sempai! S-Save me!"

Everyone had reached the door when Echizen called for help.

"Oi! He's turning blue! Let him go!" Oishi rushed into the room and pried the two off.

"What's with you?" Echizen asked rubbing his neck.

"The training ground disappeared and we thought Bocchan was in trouble." Leon said in a worried tone.

"You of all people should know that it's normal. There's nothing weird about that." He said lying back on the bed. "Go eat your dinner before it gets cold."

"Demo, Ochibi are you really alright?" Eiji said turning to the door.

"Hai. I'm fine. Just go eat."

"Come on Eiji. Let's leave him. He's probably tired." Oishi said pushing him out the door. The others all followed. Echizen could hear their conversation as they left.

"Yatta! Finally food!" Momo practically ran down the stairs.

"Momo, be careful or you'll trip." Taka said following him.

"You go too. I'm not making you something else if all the food down there gets eaten." Echizen motioned for Ryoga to leave the room.

"Chibisuke, let me see your pendant." He said in a stern voice walking to the bed.

"Why? It's not like-"

"Let me see your pendant." Ryoga practically yelled at him.

Echizen had never seen his brother like this. Unwillingly, he took the pendant from his shirt and showed it to this brother. Ryoga's eyes widened with concern and then shut.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

He put the pendant back in his shirt. "It's nothing." he said avoiding Ryoga's eyes.

"What do you mean nothing?" Ryoga took him by the shoulders. "You know what happens when the light goes out! Why would you let it get that close?"

Echizen didn't look at him but was embraced in a hug.

"We've already lost too many. I don't want to lose you too."

Echizen hugged him back. "Gomen…"

"Don't scare me like that. I don't know what I would do if you were gone." He hugged him tighter. "Don't leave me."

"Ah. I won't."

Ryoga smiled and pulled away from the hug and ruffled Echizen's hair.

"Come on. Let's go eat."

"Yadda. I'm tired and want to sleep."

"You need to keep your strength up." The hand on Echizen's head got tighter.

"I already ate."

A vein popped.

* * *

"If you're not going to eat it then I will!" Momo said taking a shrimp from Kaidou's plate and shoving it into his mouth.

"I _was_ going to eat that you baka!" Kaidou yelled.

"Maa maa, you two, calm down." Taka said. "Here Kaidou, you can have-"

"YOU'RE SUCH A LIAR!" everyone heard Ryoga shouting upstairs. "YOU ARE COMING TO EAT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!"

"Yadda! I told you I already ate! Baka Aniki!" Echizen shouted in response.

They all turned to see Ryoga dragging Echizen out of his room and down the stairs. Luckily for him, Echizen grabbed hold of the railing.

"Karupin! Get him off of me!"

Ryoga's eyes widened as he heard a growl behind him. He turned to see Karupin ready to pounce. He let go of his brother in fear of being sat on.

"Che. Fine then, but you're going to eat with us tomorrow." Ryoga said as he went down the stairs.

"Whatever. Come on Karupin." Echizen and Karupin went back into his room while Ryoga went down stairs.

Everyone downstairs at the table was silent.

"Ryoga, what were you and Bocchan doing?" Leon broke the silence.

"Ah, nothing. Just discussing family business." he said with a smile as he sat down and began to eat.

* * *

**In Echizen's Room**

Echizen collapsed on the bed.

"Baka Aniki."

His chest hurt. He used up too much of his power. He almost collapsed when they were at the stairs. All he wanted to do was sleep.

'Meow' Karupin jumped on the bed and looked at him with unease.

Echizen put his hand on Karupin's head and gently pet him.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere until this whole thing is over with."

* * *

**Finally! Over 3400 words and 11 pages, this is by far the longest chapter. Sorry about not giving full descriptions on their training but I'm in a rush to get the last few chapters done before Monday.**

**Let's not waste any time… any more time and get on with the next chapter! That's all I'm going to do tomorrow. No Xbox and no friends. I'm going to stay in my room all day and finish this story!**

**Forgiveness for mistakes!**

**See you guys hopefully on Monday!**


	20. The Race

**Finally chapter 20! Milestone reached! Whatever. Hi guys! How's it been? I'm proud of myself. I've never written anything like this and I'm finally nearing the end. *sniff*sniff* I'm so happy.**

**I've decided for my next story, I'm not going to upload it until it's fully done. Going to have something to do with the mob and mafia if you're into that kind of stuff.**

**I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis. Just so ya know.**

**Enough stalling! Get on with the story! Enjoy! **

* * *

Echizen basically collapsed on the bed.

"Baka Aniki."

His chest hurt. He used up too much of his power. He almost collapsed when they were at the stairs. All he wanted to do was sleep.

'Meow' Karupin jumped on the bed and looked at him with unease.

Echizen put his hand on Karupin's head and gently pet him.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere until this whole thing is over with."

* * *

Everyone finished their dinner and went to the living room and watched some more of Nanjiro's old matches. It was getting late and everyone decided that it was time to go to bed. Everyone said their 'goodnights' and headed to their rooms. Because he wanted a snack, Momo was the last one to head to his room. He almost missed it but saw that Echizen had left his door open. He went to shut it and saw him lying in his bed with the covers off. Force of habit made him go in and tuck him in. He really did see Echizen as a younger brother. Even though they had only met a few months ago, he felt like the team had become a second family. He tucked Echizen in, gave Karupin a pet and went to his own room and went to bed.

The morning that came was just like all the others: Echizen making breakfast, relaxing, Tezuka ordering laps, but instead of going out back to where the training grounds used to be, everyone went out front for an end-of-the-trip special kind of training.

"What are we doing out here Echizen?" Oishi asked.

"Everyone's sword and magic skills are respectable but your flying still needs work and since the training area is no longer a factor, we're going to have a race around the neighborhood," Echizen took out his wings. "In the sky."

They all looked at him like he was crazy.

"What do you mean?" Momo asked in a wary tone. "Race around the neighborhood in the sky? What are you talking about?"

"I didn't think it was that difficult to comprehend Momo-sempai." Momo gave him an aggravated look. "We're going to race around the neighborhood while flying."

"Saa, what happens if we are seen?" Fuji asked intrigued by the idea.

"You better hope that you're not, Fuji-sempai. Doing this will test your speed, flight control and reflexes. There usually aren't that many people up here at this time of the year so being seen isn't a big threat but that's no guarantee so you should be careful."

"Will you be competing in this race Echizen?" Inui questioned.

"Why would I? It's not like I need to fix my flight pattern."

"Heh, Chibisuke's scared that he would lose." Ryoga supposed with a snicker.

A vein popped. "What are you saying? Of course I wouldn't lose. I'd win when we'd race didn't I?" he replied in a cocky manner.

Ryoga's face became red. "B-Baka. That's because I let you win."

"Eh. But didn't you say you always went all out and still couldn't beat me?"

"Urasi!"

"Let's settle this then. See who's faster. One time around the neighborhood. Whoever gets back here first wins."

"You're on!"

"Uno, wasn't this supposed to be training for us?" Eiji asked. "When did it turn into a family competition?"

"Once those two start something, it's almost impossible to stop them." Leon placed his hands behind his head and sighed. "While those two are having their race, I'll be with you guys to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Everyone agreed and lined up in front of the house.

"Everyone ready?" Leon shouted. Everyone unfolded their wings. Echizen and Ryoga had taken off. Everyone sweat dropped. "What is going to happen to those two?" Leon asked himself. "Ready… GO!"

Everyone took to the sky. They looked like a flock of unorganized birds. Momo and Kaidou were racing against each other, Eiji was having fun, Taka and Oishi were trying to steady themselves, Inui was writing in his notebook and Tezuka and Fuji were calmly flying in the back with Leon. It seemed that everyone forgot that it was supposed to be a race.

* * *

**In a different part of the neighborhood**

Ryoga and Ryoma were flying like their lives depended on it. Neither of them wanted to lose, their pride wouldn't allow them. Every once in a while, they would get in front of each other but when they came around a corner or the street turned, the other would take the lead. Ryoga was currently in front.

"Come on Chibisuke! If you don't hurry, I'm gonna win!" he taunted to his not so far behind brother.

"There's no way I'd lose to you!" Ryoma hollered back. He flapped his wings and caught up to his brother. "See you at the house." He quickly took the lead.

"Ah! Matte Chibisuke!" Ryoga caught up and they both turned a corner.

* * *

**Back with everyone else**

Because of their antics, Kaidou and Momo have almost fallen several times and needed to be rescued. Luckily, Eiji was there and able to hold them up long enough so they could find themselves. Taka and Oishi had been keeping a steady pace, making sure that one another didn't fall or lose posture. Inui had been flying but kept going lower and lower because he was writing in his notebook and had to be reminded by Fuji to flap every once in a while. Tezuka, even if his stoic face said otherwise, seemed to be enjoying himself. The sky was clear, there was a nice breeze, and the only thing to worry about was an occasional person walking down the street in which everyone hid in various places.

"How long is this street?" Momo asked. They didn't even get to the first corner yet.

"I feel like I'm taking the long was to school." Eiji complained.

"I don't think it's _that_ far." Leon said trying to comfort everyone.

"What are you all doing? You're so slow. You haven't even reached the end of the street yet." A voice came from behind them.

They all turned to see Echizen flying towards them.

"Echizen. Are you done with your race already?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"Never mind that. Why are you only at this point?" Everyone looked at his slightly confused. "Didn't I say that this was a race? There's no point if you just aimlessly fly."

"Nya, but that's what you do Ochibi." Eiji pouted.

"_I_ have practiced for years. _You've_ only been for a few days." He had a thought and smirked. "Whoever gets to the house last has to drink Inui-sempai's juice."

Everyone's but Tezuka's, Inui's and Fuji's face was horror struck.

"D-Demo, didn't we get rid of his so called 'juice'?" Oishi asked.

"I've made a new one." Inui pulled a jug out of nowhere. "New and Improved Super Ultra Deluxe Silver Inui juice."

Everyone looked at it with horror. The thing was a brown tint and purple. Out of complete fear, everyone including Leon and Tezuka, started to fly at full speed down the street.

"Inui-sempai, even though it's _your_ juice, you still need to be in the race." Echizen and Inui were flying behind everyone.

"Ah." Inui sped ahead and joined the others in the race.

"I'll be at the house waiting to see who the winner is!" Echizen shouted to them. "Leon! Make sure nothing goes wrong!"

"Hai Bocchan!" he shouted back at him.

With that, the regulars and Leon flew off down the street and Echizen went back to the house.

* * *

"Nya, I'll never drink that!" Eiji shouted flying to the front of the group.

"Saa, but it looks so tasty." Fuji said with a smile.

"Fuji-sempai, how can you drink that stuff?" Momo shouted as he and Kaidou were fighting to get ahead of one another.

Fuji just smiled while Momo and Kaidou sweat dropped.

Tezuka was keeping pace with Inui while he scribbled in his notebook and muttered 'Ii data' to himself.

"Uno, Oishi-kun," Leon was keeping pace with Oishi and Taka. "What exactly is in those drinks?"

"Ah, umm… well," Oishi couldn't say the right words.

"Some things are better left unknown." Taka finished his sentence.

Leon sweat dropped. "Yosh minna-san, take a left at this street ahead!" he shouted to everyone.

"Hai!" they all responded and flew around the corner.

* * *

Echizen had flown back to the house to announce the winner of the race. When he got there, he noticed Ryoga sitting on the roof.

"Kokode naniwo shiteiruno?"**(What are you doing here?) ** He asked as he flew up and sat beside his brother.

"Ah Chibisuke. Nothing really, just thinking." He replied.

"About what?"

Ryoga was silent for a moment. "When we leave here… we're going to war."

Echizen's eyes widened slightly then shut. "Ah. Pretty much."

"It makes you not want to leave and spend the rest of your time here, not a care in the world."

"But that's not how it can be. We need to make it that way." He stood up. "I want to make a world where no one has to worry about being attacked. A world where you don't always have to be on guard or afraid to leave your house in the morning. I want to make this world safer for the people who live in it."

"That's just like you." Ryoga stood up next to his brother and placed his arm around his shoulder. "Always thinking of everyone else's happiness."

"Heh. I must have got it from my brother." Echizen looked at him and smiled.

Ryoga tightened his grip and returned the smile. "We'll make this world into something better. And return to our home and restore it to its former glory."

"Ah."

"I'll never drink it!" Ryoma and Ryoga turned to see all the regulars in a dead heat at the end of the street.

"Eh. Seems like they're back." Ryoga said.

"Ah. Let's go see the outcome."

Ryoma and Ryoga hopped from the roof and flew down to the street where they awaited the group.

"Momo-sempai, if you don't hurry, you'll be last!" Echizen playfully shouted.

"Urasi! I'll never let that happen!" he shouted back. Everyone was in a line flying a few feet from the ground. From left to right it was Fuji, Momo, Taka, Inui, Tezuka, Eiji, Kaidou, Oishi and Leon. When they neared the house, their pace quickened. They were all in a dead heat approaching Echizen.

"WAAAA!" They all shouted as they crossed in front of Echizen and Ryoga and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Eh. Sempai-tachi are so good. I couldn't tell who won. Let's just call it a draw." Echizen placed his hands behind his head and walked up to the house.

Everyone looked at him in frustration but knowing their kouhai, they just sat and caught their breath. Echizen had gone inside and prepared lunch for everyone. They all gladly went in and ate. When they were done, everyone went out back for the remainder of the day and had some practice battles where they practiced using their magic, flying and sword skills. Kaidou went against Ryoga, Momo against Taka, Eiji against Tezuka, Oishi against Leon and Fuji against Inui. Echizen went from group to group instructing. The losers of the matches, consisting of Kaidou, Momo, Eiji, Oishi and Fuji had to try Inui's new juice.

Despite their pleas of displeasure and cries for help, they all gulped down the juice and fainted right after. Carried in by their teammates, the four helpless souls **(since Fuji is unaffected)** were put in the living room to recuperate. After about an hour or so, they all woke up to the smell of Echizen's cooking. Everyone was seated at the table and eating dinner already.

"Mou, you didn't wait for us?" Momo complained.

"How mean!" Eiji added as they all sat down.

"Fsshhh… Echizen, you made this?" Kaidou asked staring at the food.

"Ah. Why?"

"It looks like it was made by a five star chef!" Oishi butted in. "It looks so elegant and tastes," he took a bite. "Like heaven." Oishi had tears of joy rolling down his cheeks.** (Anime kind when they are super happy or start crying for a really stupid reason. Not gonna go into detail with the food, not sure what is served in fancy Japanese restaurants.) **The other three started eating and began crying tears of joy.

With dinner over, everyone, including Echizen, went into the living room and watched the rest of Nanjiro's tapes.

"Yaa, I can see were you got your moves from Echizen." Momo nudged Echizen in the side. "Echizen?" he looked at him to see that Echizen had fallen asleep.

"Nya, Ochibi is so cute when he sleeps!" Eiji said with a big smile.

"I don't blame him. With all we've been doing and how much extra he's been doing." Taka said.

"He tries to act so mature, sometimes I forget he's still a kid." Ryoga got up from his seat and pick up his brother bridal style and went towards the stairs.

"Awe! Ryoga-san is so caring!" Eiji said with a big grin.

Ryoga blushed and went upstairs to Echizen's room.

"It's getting pretty late and we are leaving tomorrow. Maybe we should all turn in too." Fuji suggested. "Ne, Tezuka?"

Tezuka adjusted his glasses. "Ah. Minna, get to sleep soon we don't know what we'll be doing tomorrow." He got up and headed to his room.

Not too soon after he left, everyone headed to their rooms. Pretty soon, the only ones left were Leon, Ryoga and Momo.

"Well, I think that it's time for me to turn in." Leon said getting up from the couch. "See you two in the morning."

"Oyasumi nasai." Momo and Ryoga bid him good night and he went up to his room.

"Should we go to bed too, Momoshiro-kun?" Ryoga asked getting up from his seat.

"Ah. Ne, Ryoga-san,"

"Hm, nani?"

"What's going to happen when we get to your world?"

Ryoga looked at him with a surprised expression. "Who knows. Hopefully, we'll be able to get there with no problems but I can say that once we're there, it won't be an easy journey. Why do you ask?"

Momo looked at his hands. "I want to make sure that I'm strong enough. I want to be able to protect everyone."

Ryoga smiled and put him hand on Momo's shoulder. "You're just like Chibisuke."

Momo looked up. "How so?"

"You both think of others before yourselves."

"Ah… well, uno…" Momo turned red and started to scratch his head.

"I'm glad that he has friends like you and your team." Ryoga patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get to bed."

"Ah, hai!" Momo and Ryoga left the living room and headed up the stairs. They said one final goodnight then went to their rooms and went to bed.

* * *

**So? This chapter took **_**way**_** longer than any of the others. The question mark key on my laptop broke for some stupid reason… I had **_**nothing**_** to do with it… maybe a little to do with it.**

**I'm soooooooooooo sorry that the story isn't done. I'm a big liar, I know. I hate myself. I think that I'm going to go back with a chapter a day cuz that make me more motivated to do it. I think that it might stop at about 24 chapters but I have no idea.**

**Thanks to everyone for being so patient with me the whole time! I love you all! **

**Forgive stupid mistakes!**

**See y'all laters!**


	21. Out the Window

**Aaaaand, she's back! I'm gonna stop saying 'oh, I'm gonna do this many chapters' because in reality, I really have absolutely no idea how many chapters I'm gonna end up doing.**

**Hey guys! What's up? I'm not gonna lie, it's really annoying to type questions without a working question mark key. Oh well, I'll live with it.**

**Special thanks to **_**MintLeafeon **_**and **_**theanimerockz25**_** for staying with me this whole time and reviewing. I love you guys so much!**

**This has been so much fun, saying it over and over. I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**So, umm… yeah. Have fun! **

* * *

Ryoga smiled and put him hand on Momo's shoulder. "You're just like Chibisuke."

Momo looked up. "How so?"

"You both think of others before yourselves."

"Ah… well, uno…" Momo turned red and started to scratch his head.

"I'm glad that he has friends like you and your team." Ryoga patted him on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's get to bed."

"Ah, hai!" Momo and Ryoga left the living room and headed up the stairs. They said one final goodnight then went to their rooms and went to bed.

* * *

The night went by slow. Hardly anyone could sleep. The only one who supposedly got a successful night sleep was Echizen. Everyone else was awake in their rooms, contemplating on how the next few days would go. They were the ones who had to protect the people of their world and save what was left of the world their ancestors came from.

It was going on around 6:30am and somehow, everyone thought that they should be doing something. Oishi had gotten up and gone downstairs to find that Taka was in the kitchen.

"Taka-san, what are you doing?" he asked in a sleepy manner.

"Ah, Oishi. I couldn't sleep and I figured that I'd make use of my time." He was standing at the counter with some of the leftovers from last night's meal and was making them into lunches for everyone.

"You did all this? How long have you been up?" there were already several bentos out.

"Not that long. I just felt like I should help out with how much Echizen has been doing."

"I know what you mean. Echizen has done so much for us. Do you need any help with anything?"

"Well, I was going to make some bentos with the leftover desserts."

Oishi smiled and took the desserts out of the fridge and started to fill each of the lunch boxes with the different sweets.

Not long after, Fuji, Momo and Eiji appeared and helped with things. The sun was starting to come up and pretty soon all the regulars were out of bed and downstairs doing various jobs around the house. Kaidou was dusting, Tezuka was straightening out the furniture with Fuji, Eiji and Momo were cleaning the bathrooms and Taka and Oishi were finishing the lunches. The only one who didn't seem to be doing anything was Inui. He just kept walking around to see what everyone was doing and scribbling in his notebook muttering 'Ii data' to himself.

"Inui-sempai, please help with something." Kaidou said dusting off a picture.

"You all seem like you have it covered." He adjusted his glasses.

"Inui, 20 laps when we get back to school." Tezuka yelled from the other room.

"Ii data…" Inui wrote in his notebook and went to the other room. Kaidou sweat dropped.

It was about 7:30am when everyone was finished. They were all sitting on the couch watching TV when they heard Ryoga and Leon coming down the stairs.

"I wonder if anyone else is- ah!" They walked into the living room to see all the regulars on the couch.

"Ohayou." They all said in unison.

"Ah, ohayou minna." Leon was a little stunned to see everyone. "What's everyone doing?"

"It turns out no one could sleep." Fuji said. "So we all got up and cleaned."

"Really?" Ryoga asked with a yawn. "You didn't have to do that."

"We felt like we should do something. After all, we freeloaded off of you for a week."

"Arigatou minna."

"Ne, Ryoga-san, when are we getting picked up?" Eiji asked.

"Uno, I think the bus driver said that he would be here around eight."

Everyone was a little shocked when he told them that.

"What?" he was confused.

They all jumped off of the couch and went up to their rooms to pack their things.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, Ryoga," Leon tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to a clock. "It's 7:35."

Ryoga sweat dropped. "Gah! We need to pack!" he ran upstairs to his room and begun to pack.

Leon sighed. _'Why didn't they just do it last night like I did?'_ he thought as he walked to the base of the stairs.

"Leon, can you get Chibisuke up?" Ryoga shouted from his room. "I seriously doubt that he's up right now."

"Hai." Leon walked up the stairs to Echizen's room and knocked on the door. "Bocchan, it's time to get up. We need to leave in 25 minutes."

"I-*gaah*-know! I just need-*itai*-a few more-*grunt*-minutes!" Echizen seemed to be having a slight bit of trouble.

"Bocchan, are you alright?" he went to open the door but discovered that it was locked. "Bocchan, what's going on in there? Why is the door locked?"

"I'm fine. Just-*aaugh*-leave me alone for-GAAH!"

"Bocchan!" Leon started to panic and tried to force the door.

"Is he up?" Ryoga had packed his things and was heading downstairs.

"He is but, the doors locked and he won't open it."

Ryoga set his things down and went to Leon. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He just won't open his door."

Ryoga switched places with him and knocked on the door.

"Oi Chibisuke, hurry up. We need to leave."

"I know that but-" there was a crash. "Itai!"

"What's going on?" Momo asked as he and the rest of the regulars started to gather outside Echizen's door.

"Bocchan locked himself in his room."

"Chibisuke, what are you doing?" Ryoga tried to open the door. "Open the door."

"I can't. Not until I-" there was another crash and the window opened. "Ah! Damn it!"

"Chibisuke! Open the door!"

"Ahh! Fine!" Echizen snapped his fingers and the door became unlocked.

Ryoga and the others plowed in to see what he was doing. The room was a mess. The bed covers were off, his clothes were everywhere, the suitcase was on the floor and a lamp was tipped over.

"What were you- what the hell are you doing?" Everyone saw Echizen standing in the window getting ready to jump out.

"Nya, Ochibi! Don't do it!" Eiji ran to the window just in time to grab his arm as he jumped out.

"Let me go Kikumaru-sempai!" Echizen tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Yadda! I'll never let you fall!" he yelled half way out the window.

"Did you forget that-" he was cut off.

"Chibisuke, what the hell is this? The room is a mess and you're jumping out of a window? I didn't think you hated this place that much."

"That's not it baka aniki! I need to find Karupin before he gets too far!"

Everyone had a question mark pop off their heads.

"What?"

Echizen face palmed. "Baka aniki. You weren't home before we left and it took me hours to get Karupin in his carrier and that was when I knew where he was! Let me go so I can find him!" he jerked out of Eiji's hand and started to fall.

"Nya, Ochibi!"

Echizen brought out his wings and flouted slowly to the ground but then took off looking for Karupin.

Eiji sweat dropped and looked behind him. "Ha, I forgot he's an angel." Everyone else sweat dropped.

* * *

Everyone had gone outside to help look for Karupin. They could here Echizen calling for him in the distance.

"Karupin!... Karupin, doko ikuno?"

"Where could he be?" Oishi said looking under a bush.

"I hope we find him soon. The bus will be here in ten minutes." Taka said

"Why did he need to bring that cat along anyways? Can't we just leave him?" Momo said looking behind a tree. A rock hit him in the back of the head. "Itai! Who did that?"

"Fsshhh... baka." Kaidou said looking away from him. "Try to be considerate of other people's feelings."

"What was that Mamoshi? You have it out right here?"

Kaidou grunted at pointed up into the tree that Momo was under. He looked up to see Echizen standing on a branch with worry in his eyes.

"Of course we can't leave it here."

"Karupin has been with Chibisuke since he was a year old." Ryoga stood with Momo and stared at his brother. "He would never leave without his companion."

Momo had a sudden feeling of guilt. "Gomen… Yosh! We're not going to leave until we find that cat!" Momo ran to a bush and started looking.

"Karupin, where are you?" Echizen looked around the yard for some sign that he was still there. _'Would he leave just because he didn't want to be in that carrier?'_

There was a rustle of leaves above his head. He looked up to see a furry mass fall onto his face. He lost his balance and fell from the tree. He expanded his wings just before he hit the ground and pried the ball of fur from his face.

"K-Karupin!"

'Meow'

Everyone turned to see Echizen on the ground holing Karupin in his arms.

"Waa, you found him!" Eiji said happily. There was a honk out front. "And just in time too!"

"Yosh. Let's go before he decides to leave us here for another week!" Ryoga said with a smile as he walked to the back door.

"Would he really do that?" Taka asked.

"Oyaji has done it to us a few times, so I figure why wait and see?"

Everyone sweat dropped and followed Ryoga into the house.

"Uno, Echizen," Momo was walking in the back with him. "Sorry about what I said, about leaving him here. I didn't know"

"Ah. I know you didn't mean it. But just for saying it, you can help me put him in his carrier." A smirk crossed his face.

Momo sweat dropped.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" the bus driver asked.

"Matte! We still need Ochibi and Momo!" Eiji said jumping from his seat.

"Chibisuke, hurry it up!" Ryoga shouted out the window towards the house.

"Hai, hai." Echizen had emerged with his suitcase in one hand and Karupin's carrier in the other. "Momo-sempai, take this." He shoved his luggage into Momo's hands.

"Why do I have to carry it?" he asked with a grunt.

"I can't carry that and Karupin since I need to lock up."

Momo sighed and took Echizen's bag to the bus. He put his things in his seat and Echizen's in another and watched Echizen as he set down Karupin and locked the front door.

'_Why couldn't he just put both things down instead of making me have to carry it?'_ he thought to himself as he reclined in his seat.

"Momo, what happened?" Oishi asked with concern. Momo's face was full of scratches.

"Don't ask." He put his arm over his head and reclined farther.

Echizen locked the house and quickly got on the bus.

"Now is that everyone?" the bus driver asked.

"Hai." They all replied.

"Okay then, let's get you boys home." He started the bus and headed back to town. **(Not sure if it's a town or city so let's just say it's a town) **

* * *

The ride was silent. Not an awkward silent. It was the silent because everyone but Leon and Ryoga had fallen asleep due to the lack of sleep that they got that night. It wasn't that long of a ride back, only about an hour or so. Instead of being dropped off back at Echizen's house, they went to the school. When they arrived, everyone was still sleeping.

"How should we wake them?" Leon asked grabbing his luggage.

"I have an idea." Ryoga pulled an air horn out of his bag. "You two may want to cover your ears."

Leon and the bus driver sweat dropped and did as they were instructed. Ryoga plugged one of his ears and pressed the horn. It let out this high pitched wail that immediately woke everyone up and forced them to cover their ears.

"Ohayou gozaimasu minna-san! We're here!" Ryoga said with a smile as he let go of the horn.

"Baka aniki!" Echizen shouted to his brother. "Why do you have something like that?"

"I've had this for a while and figured that now was a good time to use it." The smile on his face widened.

Everyone gave him an evil glare and got off the bus. They thanked the driver and he went on his way.

"Now what?" Tezuka asked.

"Saa, when are we going to your world Echizen?"

Echizen thought for a second. "Two weeks."

"Why so long away?" Inui asked.

"We need time to rest and I need to find out how to send us there."

"You mean, you don't know how?" Taka was a bit confused.

"Ah. We know spells on how to send others away but not to transfer ourselves to different places." He yawned. "Let's just all go home I'm tired."

Upon closer inspection, "Echizen, how long have you been up?" Oishi could see bags under his eyes.

"Too long. Let's go home. I want to sleep." He picked up his things and started heading in the direction of his house.

"Oi Chibisuke! Ahh, I guess we'll see everyone in two weeks." Ryoga picked up his things and went to catch up with Echizen. "Ja~ne! Chibisuke matte!"

"Bocchan wait!"

"Echizen, don't leave without me!" Momo and Leon quickly caught up with them.

"Well, what are we going to do for these two weeks?" Oishi said wanting to know what everyone thought.

"We will live our lives like nothing has changed." Tezuka asserted. "Our lives may change drastically when we leave. Minna, yudan suru ikenai!"

"Ah!" Everyone raised their fists in unison then said their good byes and headed home, wondering what would happen in two weeks when they would venture to the angel world.

* * *

**Done! I really am more motivated if I do one chapter a day. Well? How was it? Heart breaking with Ryoma and Karupin. They belong together forever! Hopefully, I won't make anything happen.**

**You know the drill, you read, then review. Thanks again to everyone who has been! Makes me happy! **

**Forgive mistakes!**

**See ya next chapter!**


	22. Back at School

**Hey guys, I know that you won't be happy to hear this but, I'm not going to do the story after this chapter… okay, that was the biggest lie I've ever told you. Of course I'm gonna finish the story! Did you believe it? I really don't like the people who do that.**

**Any who, hi everyone what's up? I keep starting these later and later in the day. It's okay. I stay up late.**

**I only have the patients to say this so much; I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**PS, reading several different fanfics of PoT before bed gives you really weird dreams :P**

**Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! **

* * *

"Echizen, don't leave without me!" Momo and Leon quickly caught up with them.

"Well, what are we going to do for these two weeks?" Oishi said wanting to know what everyone thought.

"We will live our lives like nothing has changed." Tezuka asserted. "Our lives may change drastically when we leave. Minna, yudan suru ikenai!"

"Ah!" Everyone raised their fists in unison then said their good byes and headed home, wondering what would happen in two weeks when they would venture to the angel world.

* * *

The first week seemed to go by rather fast but the second week seemed to go by very slowly. The days seemed twice as long and no one could really concentrate. But it was already Thursday and everyone was excited and very unnerved about what would happen in the next few days. There were some minor incidents but nothing too serious. During the week, the tennis club had a practice match against Hyotei, in which Atobe wouldn't leave Echizen alone because he refused to play a match with him.

"Gaki, how could you refuse a match with the great Ore-sama? Scared that you'll lose?" Atobe kept bugging Echizen while he was trying to fall asleep under a tree.

"I told you Monkey-King, I'm not in the mood to deal with you today." Echizen pulled his hat down lower and tried to sleep.

"How could you not want to bask in the glory Ore-sama holds?"

"Che. What glory?"

Atobe started going off about all the things he's done and how his greatness is second to none and how Echizen should be grateful that he took time off of his busy schedule to come to his school and have a match.

"Nya, I feel sorry for Ochibi." Eiji said walking out onto the court.

"Ah. He's been looking more tired than usual. I wonder how late he's been staying up every night." Oishi said walking besides him.

"What's so special about that guy anyway?" Oshitari said on the opposite side of the court.

"Yeah. I've never seen Atobe-san so obsessed with anyone but himself." His partner Gakuto added. **(Sorry if those are the wrong names to use)**

"Saa, do you think we should do something Tezuka?" Fuji asked on the side lines.

Tezuka sighed and rubbed his temples.

"There is an 89% chance that getting involved would have no effect in the matter." Inui popped out of nowhere.

"But shouldn't we at least try?" Taka asked.

"Oi where do you think you're going Gaki?" Everyone heard Atobe yell at Echizen who had gotten up and started walking away.

"Away from you to get some peace."

"Heh, fine. Ore-sama was trying to be reasonable." He snapped his fingers. "Kabaji."

"Usu." Kabaji walked behind Echizen and grabbed his shirt collar.

"Wha- hey! Let me go!" he began to be pulled back.

"No one ignores Ore-sama and gets away with it." Atobe began walking back to the courts followed by Kabaji pulling Echizen behind him.

"Damn it Monkey-King! Make your man servant let me go!" Echizen shouted in protest.

"Not until you play a game with Ore-sama."

"You can't make me play a game!"

"Ore-sama has his ways."

"Hanashiteyo! Do you hear me? Hanashit-" he stopped shouting and looked to the left. He felt something. The other regulars noticed it too and stopped what they were doing.

"Finally decided to play Ore-sama?"

"Let me go." Echizen was more calm and commanding.

"You cannot tell Ore-sama what to do. Come on Kabaji."

"Usu."

"I said," Echizen grabbed Kabaji's hand from his collar and squeezed it. "Let me go."

The pressure asserted on Kabaji's wrist made him let go of Echizen's shirt. Atobe watched as Echizen released his wrist and was speechless.

"Oi Gaki, what's up with you?" Atobe walked up to him.

Echizen remained silent and looked at his surroundings.

"How dare you ignore Ore-"

"Urasai Monkey-King!" Echizen was trying to listen to any strange noises. He saw a gleam in one of the trees.

"Don't you tell Ore-sama what to-GAAH!" Atobe was tackled to the ground by Echizen. "Itai! Gaki, what the hell are you-" he stopped when he saw Echizen clutching his arm, trying to keep the blood from flowing. "O-Oi!"

"Echizen/Ochibi!" Everyone ran to him. He slowly got up and took out his wings.

"Echizen! What are you doing?" Momo asked trying to hide them. "There are people here!"

"W-What the hell is this?" Atobe's voice was shaky.

Echizen drew out a feather and chanted.

'Great Keeper of the Angel, Watcher of the Earth, give these poor souls no recollection of what has happened. Give them no memory of the terrible fate that is about to befall them: Expunge.'

The feather jolted from Echizen's hand to the middle of the courts and plunged itself deep into the earth. The spot erupted with a massive explosion of a golden light and expanded far beyond the tennis courts. All the non-Seigaku regulars all dropped to the ground in a deep sleep.

"Echizen, what did you do?" Kaidou asked surveying his surroundings.

"That's just a simple sleeping and memory loss spell." Echizen winced and held his arm.

"Ah! Echizen, you're hurt!" Oishi ran to him and observed at his arm.

"I'm surprised you still have this much power after all you've been through." A figure jumped out of a tree and landed in front of them. "You even managed to put up a barrier to make it look like nothing's wrong."

"Teme." Momo stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"Oh, forgive my manners. I am known as Luka. I am here to deliver the Prince to the King." Luka said in a bow. He didn't really look like most of the other demons that they have faced. He had dark blue hair and deep red eyes. His clothes were all black except for an orange belt that he wore.

"You can forget it!" Momo shouted.

"Fsshhh… he's not going anywhere." Kaidou took a step forward.

"Yare, I was sent here to pick up the Prince without a scratch and it seemed that the poor little human over there was being a nuisance so I was going to dispose of him."

"You have no right to dispose of people just because they seem one way." Echizen said as Oishi healed his arm. "And I have no intention of going with you."

"Yare, I guess we'll do this the hard way." Luka snapped his fingers and many daredevils and hellhounds appeared. "Come with me or I'll kill all of these miserable human here."

"You bastard…" Momo looked at the beasts then to Echizen.

He smirked. "You think we can't handle this?"

"I really didn't want it to come to this." He snapped his fingers again and all the creatures ran to someone who was passed out. The regulars vanished and appeared in front of them, their wings and weapons drawn.

"Oh, isn't this unexpected? Who knew that the Prince had gotten his guardians back after such a long time?"

"They are not my guardians." Echizen jolted in front of him. "They are my friends."

Before Luka could react, Echizen pulled out his sword and sliced him on the stomach, causing him to let out a shriek of pain and jump back.

"That wasn't a smart move. I guess I'll have to get serious now." He bent over and two sets of wings appeared on his back and when he straightened up, the cut on his stomach was gone. "I was supposed to bring you back unharmed but, I don't think the King will mind a few scratches." He lunged at Echizen with two daggers and Echizen lunged at him with his sword.

"Echizen!" the others shouted at they took a few steps in his direction.

"Do you really want to do that? My creatures of the underworld, ATTACK!" the daredevils and hellhounds all sprung at the regulars trying to get to the unconscious people on the ground behind them.

"Minna, we have to protect the others!" Tezuka shouted as he stabbed a creature.

"AH!" everyone shouted in unison and started attacking the creatures.

"BURNING! I'LL SAVE EVERYONE HERE BABY!" Taka was fully on burning mode.

"Echizen, we'll leave him to you!"

"Ah!" Echizen's sword clanged with Luka's daggers.

"You think you can handle me all by yourself? You? A mere child? Don't make me laugh!" he managed to maneuver a dagger and cut Echizen's arm.

Echizen gave a sudden gasp in pain and pulled back. He mumbled something.

"Sorry? I didn't get that!" Luka lunged at him again.

"DON'T YOU CALL ME A CHILD!"

"Oh, did I hit a sore spot?" Luka dashed at him and sliced what he thought was him. His daggers went right threw him and then he disappeared.

"What?" Luka looked confused and felt something go through his gut.

"Don't call me a child." He looked down to see Echizen's sword.

"Y-You…bastard…" Echizen removed his sword and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Echizen floated down and stuck his sword in Luka's face. "Go back and tell your 'King' that I will see him soon enough and when I do, I'll kill him."

"Heh, you think you can defeat him?" Luka coughed up a mouthful of blood. "You'll never be able to beat him, a mere… child like… you…" He sank into the darkness.

Echizen sighed then went to help the others defeat the rest of the creatures of the underworld.

* * *

"Well, what now?" Momo asked scratching his head.

"Saa, should we leave them?"

"They should be fine once they wake up." Echizen was having Oishi wrap his arm in gauze.

"When will they wake up?" Taka asked.

"The spell should have only lasted about fifteen minutes so, they should be up in-"

"Three minutes and forty-seven seconds." Inui popped out of nowhere.

"What will happen when they wake up?" Kaidou asked.

"Nothing. It will just be like they went to sleep. They won't remember anything they saw before they blacked out. Arigatou Oishi-sempai."

"Nya, what do we do now?" Eiji was slightly confused.

"Sempai-tachi can think of an excuse to tell them why they blacked out." Echizen got his things together and started to walk away.

"Echizen, where are you going?" Oishi was still concerned about his injury.

"Home. I'm close to figuring how to get to our world and want to start on it."

"Nya Ochibi, do you want any-"

"Yadda."

"Ochibi is so mean!' Eiji pouted.

"Have fun sempai-tachi." Echizen took his things and headed home.

"What did he mean 'think of an excuse for why the blacked out'?" Taka scratched his head.

"What is Ore-sama doing on the ground?" Atobe had woken up.

"Saa, I think that's what he meant."

* * *

The next day, Echizen wasn't at school. No one was really worried but they were concerned about what had happened the previous day and if something like that would happen again. After practice, they all went over to his house as he instructed earlier in the week. Ryoga opened the door and welcomed them in. He told them what Echizen had told him and proceeded to explain what they should expect while they were in the angel world, constant fear of attacks, how the time there was faster than the time here and how the road was going to be much more difficult from then on. He also told them to tell their parents that they were going away for the weekend as a team bonding type of thing and that they weren't going to be able to be contacted because of a rule someone made up. They all did as they were told then waited out back for Echizen.

"I don't know how late he was up late night trying to find a way to make this work." Ryoga told everyone. "I went to bed at around one and he was still up researching how to get it done."

"Will that affect it in any way?" Inui asked.

"I'm not too sure. I mean, it shouldn't but…"

The back door slide open and Karupin came out followed by a tired looking Echizen.

"Bocchan, when did you get to bed last night?" Leon could see the bags under his eyes.

"Doesn't matter." He was holding a book with him.

"What's that?" Momo pointed to the book.

"This is how we are going to transport ourselves to the angel world Momo-sempai." He opened the book and told everyone to stand in a circle around him, bring out their wings and hold hands.

Unfortunately for them, Momo and Kaidou were standing next to each other.

"Echizen, I will not hold his hand." Momo said in the most monotone and un-amused voice you could ever think of.

"Then stand next to someone else Momo-sempai." He gave him an 'I really don't care, just do it' sort of look. Even though neither of them wanted to do it, Momo and Kaidou eventually held each other's hands.

"Everyone ready?" Echizen was standing in the center of the circle with Karupin attached to a shoulder.

"Hai." Everyone answered.

Echizen flipped to a page in the book and started reading.

'We, the descendants of the royal king and his faithful companions, wish to journey to our home land.' The ground around them started to glow. 'In the name of the late King, I ask that you grant us the power to travel to the world of our ancestors so that we might be able to provide a shred of hope for those who think that everything is lost.' Everyone started to glow. 'Give us the strength to perform this task so that our world may be pure again: Revolution.'

There was a bright flash and everyone shut their eyes. When the opened them, they were no longer in Echizen's backyard. They were in a forest surrounded but dead and dying charcoal colored trees. There was not a single living tree in sight.

"Echizen, is this…" Oishi looked at his environment.

"Ah. Sempai-tachi, welcome to the World of Angels."

* * *

**They're finally there! Time to kill that Kingly beotch! **

**How was it? Could have been better. I've got a sort of busier schedule now and am having a hard time fitting this into the day but I still managed to finish it at… 12:03 in the morning. **

**Sorry if anything was confusing or unclear or if the names of the characters I used weren't correct.**

**Please forgive laziness of the brain for not triple checking for mistakes.**

**See ya tomorrow!**


	23. Birth of Friendship

**How will this all end up? Let's find out!.. As soon as I think of what to do. In case you all didn't know, I'm not like some other people who write down their ideas before typing them. I just go with what is in my head at that time.**

**Thanks to **_**MintLeafeon **_**and **_**theanimerockz25**_** for sticking with me and reviewing!**

**Unless I say otherwise, their wings are going to be out the whole time in this chapter. I don't remember if I put the back story on how Echizen got Karupin but it's in this chapter and if I put it in another chapter, oh well this is now the back story.**

**Now, let's see what horrible things I'm going to make happen to the regulars :D**

* * *

There was a bright flash and everyone shut their eyes. When the opened them, they were no longer in Echizen's backyard. They were in a forest surrounded but dead and dying charcoal colored trees. There was not a single living tree in sight.

"Echizen, is this…" Oishi looked at his environment.

"Ah. Sempai-tachi, welcome to the World of Angels."

* * *

Everywhere they looked, they saw dead trees and remains of what seemed to be a small village or something. There were black smoldering tree trunks and planks of wood scattered around. Everywhere was either charred black or stained red. Even the sky was a tinge of dark blue that made it look black. Everyone looked around shocked. Leon and Ryoga were gazing at what their home had become over the years they had been away.

"This is…" Taka started.

"… The Angel World?" Kaidou completed his sentence.

"Well, it's either here or we got transferred to some completely different place." Echizen commented as he fell back and landed on the ground.

"Ochibi! Are you okay?" Eiji asked.

"Ah. That was just really tiring."

"I don't believe that its gotten so… horrible." Ryoga had taken a few steps in front of everyone and took a long look around.

They all looked at him then at Leon for clarification. He was also entranced by how his home had become but noticed the stares and started to tell them of the world that was before while looking out to the distance.

"No, it wasn't always like this. It was once a world of great beauty and lushes green fields as far as the eye could see." He looked towards the sky. "The sky was always lovely and blue and the sun was always out. Even when it rained. The clarity and purity never really left. It was like that for all the years I live here up until I was positioned on earth." He took a step forward. "Before my garrison and I moved out, there had been sightings of creatures unfamiliar to these lands. Numerous times, people have reported their spiritual beasts coming back after being out all day with severe injuries."

"Spiritual beasts?" Tezuka raised an eyebrow.

"Spiritual beasts are the animals of this world."

"Is he one?" Momo pointed to Karupin sitting in Echizen's lap.

"Karupin is a special kind of beast. For one thing, his kind is quite rare. There wasn't a lot to begin with. He is also known as a divine creature because of his ability to change his size."

"Soka, Echizen, how did you get Karupin?" Inui looked at him with his notebook drawn.

Echizen looked up at him then down at the cat sleeping in his lap. "I don't really know. I just know that I've had him most of my life." He looked to Leon for an answer.

"Uhh, unfortunately, I don't know how you and Karupin came to be together Bocchan."

"I remember that day like it were yesterday." Ryoga said still facing to the land.

* * *

**Flashback Ryoga POV**_  
_

_It was when I was still a cleaning boy in the castle. I had finished my chores and had some free time so I went to visit Chibisuke. He was in the garden with the Queen._

"_Good day Ouhi-sama." I said with a bow._

"_Good day Ryoga-chan." She gave me a smile. She was one of the most beautiful people you ever met and kind too. Chibisuke looked just like her. The same golden eyes and the same green tinted hair but hers went to the center of her back. "Have you finished all of your duties?"_

"_Hai!" I arose from by bow and went to sit next to Chibisuke who was playing around in the grass next to her. "He's gotten even bigger since yesterday."_

"_That he has." She said with a smile. "Ryoga-chan, would you mind watching him for a little while? I would like some time to myself before I need to get on with my duties."_

"_Hai! I'd be glad!"_

"_Thank you. I won't be long." She got up from where she was sitting and went inside of the castle._

"_So, what do you want to do Chibisuke?" I asked, not that he could tell me, he was barely a year old._

_He started crawling towards a flower bed not too far away and tried to catch a butterfly. I watched him and couldn't help but laugh. Being so young and innocent, not knowing the wealth he holds and the future that awaits him. He tried to catch the butterfly but failed and fell forward into the flowers. I gave a small chuckle when I saw the scowl he had on his face but it quickly turned into confusion. He reached into the flowers again to try to get something that wasn't a butterfly._

"_What are you doing Chibisuke?" I got up and walked over to see what had gotten him so fascinated. I rustled around the flowers until I felt something that wasn't a plant. It was furry. I cleared away the flowers to discover a small ball of brown and cream colored fur._

"_What the…?" I stroked it a few times and it revealed a tail and head. "A spiritual beast? And a young one at that. Why is he here?"_

_The small animal stretched and walked to Chibisuke and looked him straight in the eye. Chibisuke stared back, fascinated with the cat like animal in front of him. He reached his hand out to pet it but it started to growl and hiss._

"_Whoa." I pulled him away from it and backed up. "I don't think it wants you to touch it Chibisuke." He squirmed to try and make me release him but failed. The animal just kept hissing and growling. Not knowing what to do, I kept backing up but every time I did, he took a step forward. 'What the hell is it trying to do?' I thought to myself. It suddenly began to glow. I watched as it began to grow. It grew to about four times its original size until it stopped._

"_A divine creature?" I was shock that there was one on the castle grounds. They were very rare and are almost never seen. It took another step towards us and started to snarl. I took another step back but then it jumped. I ducked and it flew over us. I turned around ready for it to attack but it stayed facing away from us, snarling at the trees. There was a sudden glow of two red dots, then it came out from the shadows. A creature of the underworld, a daredevil._

_It growled at the cat and he snarled back. The devil leapt at him and he leapt at it. The both collided in the air and fought for a moment until the cat managed to dispose of it._

"_Wow. You were trying to protect us weren't you?" I looked at the cat in front of me. It came and sat in front of us. Chibisuke once again reached out his had to pet it. This time, he gratefully embraced Chibisuke's hand on his face. I set him down in which he crawled to him and began stroking his fur. The cat purred with pleasure._

"_This is something I never thought I'd see in-" I suddenly felt a great sting in my shoulder and cried out in pain. A devil snuck up behind me and took the opportunity. I fell to the ground in pain when it finally decided to release me from its jaws. The cat jumped behind me and pushed me near Chibisuke. Many more devils appeared and started to circle. I started to panic. I pulled Chibisuke into my arms and made my wings appear. Before I could do anything, a devil launched itself at me and grazed my back. I gave another shriek of pain._

_A guard had been making his rounds and heard my scream._

"_Ora, what was tha- dear God!" he saw me kneeling on the ground clutching Chibisuke in one arm and clutching my shoulder with the other, with a divine creature, being circled by many daredevils. "Help! The Prince is in danger!" he ran yelling into the castle._

_I didn't know what to do. It was very painful to move and I couldn't fly. The devils were jumping at us from every way but the cat kept jumping in front and fending them off. I had lost a lot of blood and my vision was starting to get blurry. The cat was busy fending off about three devils and I could see that there was one getting closer and closer. I stumbled and fell back and the devil took its chance and leapt at us. I shielded Chibisuke with my body._

'_It doesn't matter what happens to me. I can't let them get Chibisuke!' I kept thinking that to myself but to in reality, I was terrified. I laid there for a few seconds waiting for the impact but it never came. I looked up to see Takeshi standing over us._

"_Takeshi-san!"_

"_Ryoga-kun, are you alright?" he sliced a devil that jumped at him. "How's the Prince?"_

"_Ryoga-kun!" Shuichiro came running behind us. "God! You're covered in blood!"_

"_Ryoga-kun!" everyone else came running and started fending off the remaining devils. It didn't take too long for them to dispose of them. When it was safe, I finally let Chibisuke go so that Shuichiro could tend to my wounds properly. They didn't seem to notice the creature that had been fighting besides them the whole time and were surprised when it approached Chibisuke. They all watched as it sat in front of him and nuzzled its face on his then shrank down to its original size and sat with Chibisuke on the grass. _

* * *

**End of Flashback**

"That cat has been with you ever since." Ryoga said as he finished his story.

"Nya, how sweet!" Eiji was all smiles.

Echizen blushed.

"Ne, who named him?" Momo asked.

"That was Chibisuke too." Ryoga added. "I don't remember much of that day having passed out on account of blood loss but I remember the following day, he and Karupin where in my room. The Queen was there too. She couldn't stop apologizing that it was her fault that we were attacked and it was her fault that I was hurt. When I finally convinced her that it wasn't, she told me that Chibisuke had said his first word and it was 'Karupin.' She then told me that his first sentence was 'I can't wait for onii-san to come play with me and Karupin.'"

Echizen blushed even harder.

"Awe. Who knew Echizen loved his brother so much?" Momo teased.

"Urasai!" he pulled down his hat to hide his embarrassment.

"That was about eleven years ago." He looked back at the landscape. "I still can't believe that all of this happened in that time. Ah, gomen Leon. Please continue."

"Don't worry. Anyway, with reports of the animals, the King sent out guards to see what had been causing it. The guards came back all bloodied and injured. Upon telling the King of the creatures that they had fought, we soon discovered the appearance of daredevils. We knew of the underworld but never imagined that they would ever reach here."

"Where exactly is the underworld?" Fuji asked.

"No one knew its true location and no one needed to. When the King heard this, he thought earth might be in danger. We had scouts on it but in fear for the people, he sent more, me being part of the garrison that was sent. I never would have dreamed that something like this would have happened." He looked at the ground.

"Well, we can't sit around here and mope all day. We have things to do." Echizen stood up and walked to his brother. "We _will_ restore this land to its former glory and it _will_ be a place like it was before."

Ryoga smiled. "Yosh! Come on minna! We're wasting time! We have a fallen angel to defeat!" he turned and addressed everyone.

"AAAH!" Everyone shouted in agreement.

"Let's go kill the bastard!" Ryoga started heading in one direction while Echizen went in another.

"Uno…" Echizen turned back and faced everyone.

"Actually…" Ryoga did the same.

"I have no idea where to go." They both said in unison.

"…EHHH?"

* * *

**Now you know how Echizen and Karupin came to be. Naw! So sweet!**

**So much for kicking fallen angel ass. Who knew that Ryoma and Ryoga were directionally challenged? I put that in because that's me all the time. I never know where I'm going.**

**Any who, how was it? It's starting to get good again. I know. The last couple of chapters have been really boring and didn't have any action in them put I'm trying! I didn't mean to make this chapter mostly flashback but think it turned out alright. **

**Forgive tiredness of eyes and brain missing very simple and stupid mistakes.**

**Bye for now!**


	24. Enemy or Companion?

**Uuggghhh... I'm full of sushi and it was delicious. What's up guys? Did you miss me? Don't know how this weekend is going to go. It's Prom and I have a video project so I might not got to update but knowing me, I'll say that and I'll still get it done! Haha! The power of awesomeness!**

**I know I said I was going to stop doing but I'm a fantastic liar. I don't think that it will go on after 30 chapters. I'm really out of ideas of what to do after this one.**

**Hope that you had fun with it! Enjoy!**

**Own Prince of Tennis, really, I DON'T.**

* * *

Ryoga smiled. "Yosh! Come on minna! We're wasting time! We have a fallen angel to defeat!" he turned and addressed everyone.

"AAAH!" Everyone shouted in agreement.

"Let's go kill the bastard!" Ryoga started heading in one direction while Echizen went in another.

"Uno…" Echizen turned back and faced everyone.

"Actually…" Ryoga did the same.

"I have no idea where to go." They both said in unison.

"…EHHH?"

* * *

They all looked dumbfounded.

"Oi, what do you mean you have no idea where to go?" Momo looked annoyed.

"It's not like I have memory of these lands." Echizen said in a nonchalant voice as he placed his hands behind his head and looked at his brother. "Shouldn't you know?"

Ryoga's eyes widened. "Why are you looking at me?"

"You've been here before."

"So have you!"

"Do you expect me to remember?" he walked up to Ryoga and placed his hands on his hips. "I was an infant and have never been out of the castle!"

Ryoga walked to Ryoma and did the same thing. "That doesn't mean that I have! I've worked there practically since I could carry a bucket!"

"Nya, you're siblings! Stop fighting!" Eiji tried to intervene.

"Stay out of this!" they both shouted at him then went back to fighting.

Eiji jumped back and hid behind Oishi. "Kowaii!"

"I think that's why their fighting sempai." Momo said.

"Leon-san, would you know where we are?" Taka asked.

Leon looked around. "Unfortunately no." he walked over to a tree stump. "This is a Queak Tree. **(not real. Made it up.)** There were a lot of them near the edge of the kingdom so if I would have to guess, we still have a long way to go before we can reach the castle."

"Do you know in which direction they were?" Tezuka asked.

"Uno, I think that it was mostly in the northeast."

"Arigatou Leon-san. At least we now know which direction to go."

"Yaa, it was nothing." Leon blushed slightly and scratched his head.

"Saa, it was a whole lot more than those two did." Fuji pointed to Ryoma and Ryoga who were still yelling at each other in the background. Leon sweat dropped.

"Don't we need a compass or something to tell which way we need to go?" Momo posed a good question. "I have one on my phone." He then pulled out his phone but then discovered that it had no service and sweat dropped.

"Fsshhh, baka." Kaidou hissed.

"Nani Mamoshi? You wanna have it out right here?"

"Bring it on! Fsshhh…"

"Calm down you two!" Oishi and Taka had to pry them apart

"Inui, what is the likeliness of us getting out of here?" Tezuka asked.

Inui consorted in his notebook. "There is an 11.74% chance that we will make it back to our world."

"What about the other 88.26%?"

"We could become hopelessly lost and starve to death or become hopelessly lost and die of thirst."

Everyone sweat dropped multiple times.

"Gah, I can't take this anymore!" Everyone turned to see Echizen fly up into the sky.

"Oi Chibisuke, where're you going?" Ryoga shouted up at him.

Echizen ignored him and looked around. He saw a smoke pillar in the distance and went back down.

"There's smoke in that direction. There could be people there." He pointed in the direction of the smoke.

"What if it a demon?" Oishi was thinking of everyone's safety.

"We won't know until we go see." Echizen had a point. No really knew where they were and it would be better if they could find someone to talk to. They all nodded and followed Echizen towards the smoke.

* * *

They walked through the desolated forest for a few minutes and came to the edge of a pretty steep cliff. At the bottom was a moderate sized camp.

"See? I told you that there was smoke over here." Momo and Eiji kept teasing him the whole walk over there about how there wasn't going to be anything and his eyes were playing tricks on him because he was tired.

"Waa, Ochibi was right."

"Guess I owe you one Echizen."

"Saa, we still down know if that camp is safe or not." Fuji pointed out.

"I don't see any way to get down there." Inui added.

"We can always-"

"DIE DEMONS!" there was a sudden shout from behind everyone and the next thing they knew, someone was running at them and tackled Echizen off the cliff.

"Ochibi/Echizen/Bocchan/Chibisuke!"

Echizen went rolling down the cliff with his attacker. The two arrived at the bottom and lay on the ground for a second before they got up and faced each other.

"Who the hell are you and why were you over-looking our camp?" the person asked raising his fists.

"It's impolite to ask someone's name before giving your own." Echizen said with a smirk.

"You bastard. Don't you dare act like you're better than me."

"Why would I act when I could be?"

"Kisama!" the figure dashed at Echizen and punched him on the cheek causing him to fall back. "How can you say that if you can't even dodge a simple punch like that?"

Echizen wiped the blood from his mouth. "Heh. This should be interesting." He stood up and positioned himself signaling that he was ready for a fight. "Let's see what you got."

"You really think you can beat me? You, a child?" A vein popped. "Don't blame me if I hurt that pretty boy face of yours." He dashed at Echizen again. Just when he was about to punch, Echizen disappeared. "What the hell?" he felt a tap on his back and turned. He saw Echizen just before getting punched in the face. He flew back and slammed against the ground.

"Don't call me a child." Echizen stood over him in absolute domination until he felt cold steel press against his neck.

"Josiah, what have I told you about late night patrols by yourself?"

"Ahh, gomen Taichou. I won't do it again."

"Now, what to do with your _little_ friend?" the second figure put emphasis on 'little'.

Another vein popped. Echizen looked at his captor. "You bastard."

The figure just smiled.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Chibisuke!" Everyone flew down from the cliff.

"Bocchan!" Leon unsheathed his sword and advanced forward. **(Quick note: when they arrive, their weapons became holstered to their sides. Everyone now has a long sword plus their original weapons) **"Let him go!"

"Uh-uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you." He tapped his sword on Echizen's neck causing Leon to stop. "Who are you? His protectors?"

"Of course we are!" he belted out. Everyone sweat dropped.

"Urasai Leon." Echizen placed his hand on his head.

"Leon?" Both Josiah and the figure behind Echizen seemed intrigued. "Your name is Leon?"

"Ah. Leon K. Zadkiel. **(In astrology, Zadkiel was the archangel associated with Jupiter)** Commander of the King's royal knights. Current assignment, guard the people who live on Earth from demon attacks. Now I'll tell you again, let him go."

"What will happen if I don't?" he asked in a smug tone.

"He is the rightful ruler of this world." Fuji suddenly said. "If you don't let go, he might get mad."

"Rightful ruler?" Josiah was confused.

"Nya, Ochibi is the Prince." Eiji added.

"Hn?" The figure behind Echizen interest was piqued "Well I hate to tell you, but while you were away on you mission, the King and Queen were slaughtered in the castle," Echizen flinched. "And the Prince was never found nor his adopted sibling. We only assume that they are dead."

"Oi, oi. How would you like it if someone called you dead when they were standing right in front of you?" Ryoga took a step forward.

"And who might you be?"

"He is the adopted son of the Late King, Prince Ryoga and _he_ is the heir to the throne." Leon pointed to Echizen. "Now, if you would release him back to us."

"How do I know that that is the truth?" he tapped his sword on Echizen's neck again. "If you're lying, I'll kill him."

"If you would let him go, we could show you."

"Enough Leon. Don't waste your words on him." Echizen looked at the man behind him. "I'll just make him let me go."

"Oh? And how would a child like you purpose to make me do such a thing." He held the blade closer to his neck.

A final vein popped. Echizen looked at the figure. "I already said it once." He placed the sword on his neck between his index and middle finger. "Don't call me a child." He closed his fingers together on the sword and it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

The figure just stood in absurdity. Echizen walked in front of his and pulled out his wings. They shined like the sun giving off warm rays of light and clearing away bits of the darkness. Josiah and the man stood speechless, looking at the glory in front of them.

"My name is Echizen Ryoma and I am the Prince of Angels."

* * *

**Short and sweet. My favorite. Naw, that's a lie. Sorry about it being a short chapter but I started it much later and can barely keep my eyes open right now.**

**Did everyone like? I hope so. Typing while you're half asleep is hard. After like every sentence, I'm stopping and having like a five second nap and then typing again.**

**Thanks for everyone who has been reviewing. Keep it up!**

**See everyone later!**


	25. Bathing Trouble

**Hey guys. Sorry about the late update with the last chapter. I was lying in bed last night editing it and it seems that I fell asleep. Oops. Hopefully, that won't happen this time.**

**Hope you've liked the story thus far. I'm slowly putting it to an end… that doesn't sound right. Anyway, won't be too long until it's over. I think that this is the second to last chapter though. It might not be out when I plan. I'm going to try to make it super awesome and long so it seems like the story is never ending.**

**Let's see, I got my chocolate and my pretzels and am ready to write. Let's see how the story will go! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

A final vein popped. Echizen looked at the figure. "I already said it once." He placed the sword on his neck between his index and middle finger. "Don't call me a child." He closed his fingers together on the sword and it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

The figure just stood in absurdity. Echizen walked in front of his and pulled out his wings. They shined like the sun giving off warm rays of light and clearing away bits of the darkness. Josiah and the man stood speechless, looking at the glory in front of them.

"My name is Echizen Ryoma and I am the Prince of Angels."

* * *

"T-Those wings." Josiah took a step back. "T-That color."

"That is the color that only the Prince himself had. There's no mistake." The figure backed away and knelt.

"Are you alright Chibisuke?" Ryoga walked up to his brother.

"Ah. Fine." He rubbed his neck where the sword was.

"Echizen, you're not hurt right?" Oishi was in mother hen mode.

"I'm fine Oishi-sempai." He touched his cheek where Josiah had punched him and flinched.

"Ah! You are hurt!' Oishi ran to his side.

"Nya Ochibi!" Before Oishi could get to him, Eiji tackled him and gave him a big hug. "I was so scared when you fell off that cliff!"

"Eiji let him go! You're suffocating him!"

Eiji didn't care. He was sobbing into Echizen's clothes. The figure and Josiah watched this scene and couldn't understand who these strange people were and why they were acting like this to a prince.

"Now that you have seen that we are not liars, would you be willing to give your name?" Leon walked to the figure in front of him.

"A-Ah." He rose from the kneel. "First Sargent Tatsuo Takeo. I am the commander of the remainder of the King's troops and this is Akio Josiah. He is a private here." He turned to Ryoga. "Please forgive our rudeness." They both said with a bow.

"Yaa, think nothing of it.' Ryoga waved him off.

"Uno, Ryoga-dono," Josiah started rising from his bow. "Who are those people with the Prince?" he gestured to all the regulars fussing over Echizen.

"Ah, you remember the eight knights that the King specially favored?" he folded his arms.

"Those are them?"

"Iie, they are the reincarnations." He gestured to each of them. "The one with the bandana is Kaidou Kaoru. The smiling one is Fuji Syuusuke. The relatively normal looking one, Kawamara Takashi. The red head who tackled him, Eiji Kikumaru. The laughing is Takeshi Momoshiro. The one who is panicking and trying to Kikumaru-san off Chibisuke is Shuichiro Oishi. The one with the notebook is Sadaharu Inui. And the one who looks like he wants nothing to do with his is their captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka." Karupin jumped into his arms. "Ah and this is Chibisuke's cat Karupin."

"Sugoi. The eight legendary swordsmen. I never thought I'd see this." Tatsuo was amazed. "Where did you find them?"

"Actually, they are all Chibisuke's sempai-tachi in school."

"Sugoi." Josiah was staring at the sight in front of him. How could they be the soldiers that were left to protect the Prince? They had no idea how serious the situation was. He walked towards Echizen who was now sitting on the ground gasping for air. Oishi had finally managed to pull Eiji off of him.

Echizen rubbed his neck and looked up to see Josiah standing over him.

"Gomen nasai!" he bowed. "If I had known it were you,"

"Iie. I'm out of practice. It was good for me." Echizen stood up.

"Yadda! Please." He held out his sword. "Do what you must."

Echizen stood and looked at the sword for a second. Everyone watched and waited to see what he would do.

"Fine." He took the sword and held it at Josiah's neck. He was still bent down in a bow.

"Oi Echizen, what do you plan to do with that?" Momo was a little startled.

All Echizen did was smirk. He raised the blade and quickly brought it down. Josiah was waiting for impact but it never came. He looked up to see the blade sticking out of the ground and Echizen walking pasted him to his brother.

"Doshite?" he was confused.

"Why would I spill the blood of a comrade?" he didn't turn back to answer.

Josiah watched as he approached his brother and began to talk.

"Maa, don't mind Echizen." he looked up to see Oishi standing in front of him.

"Ah. According to the data I have collected, he is just a tsundare." Inui said flipping through his notebook.

"Nya, Ochibi is really kind despite his looks." Eiji said with a smile.

"Don't worry. I didn't like him at first either." Momo said rather loudly.

"The feeling is mutual Momo-sempai." Echizen yelled from where he was standing.

"Ah-!" Momo gave a slight scowl and Echizen smirked.

"Fsshhh… baka. Why would you say that out loud?" Kaidou hissed.

"Nani? Let's go right now! I'm tired of you and your insults!"

"I sick of your stupidity."

"Nani?"

Josiah was watching the scene and seemed dumbstruck.

"Don't worry. You'll get use to them sooner or later." Fuji said behind him. "Ne, Tezuka?" Fuji's eyes wandered over to were Tezuka was standing and Josiah's eyes followed.

Tezuka sighed. "Momoshiro, Kaidou! Be quiet or 20 laps!"

Naturally, they shut up out of fear of having to run in an unknown land and thinking that they would probably get lost.

"Where's Ochibi going?" they all turned to see Echizen being led to a tent by Tatsuo. Ryoga heard his brother's teammate's concerned and went to calm them down.

'Don't worry. He's just tired and Tatsuo is lending his a tent to sleep in."

"We should get to bed too don't you think?" Leon said.

"Ah. We have no idea how the day is going to be tomorrow and we could all use a good night's rest. Josiah-kun." Ryoga turned to Josiah.

"Ah Hai!" Josiah immediately got up.

"Would you have anywhere we would be able to sleep?"

"Hai!"

"You don't have to be so formal."

"D-Demo, you're a Prince and all."

"Technically, I'm not. And even if I were, that wouldn't make me any less of the person I am right now.

"Ah, hai." Josiah led them to two well sized tents. Oishi, Eiji, Momo, Kaidou and Leon slept in one and Tezuka, Fuji, Taka, Inui and Ryoga in the other.

"Ryoga-dono, I can put you in another tent if you'd like." Josiah said popping his head into the tent.

"Iie. This is fine." Ryoga fluffed a pillow and laid down.

"I'll be in the tent next to the one with the others from your group if you need anything."

"Arigatou. Good night."

Josiah left that tent and told the same to the tent with the others in it. He went back to his tent to discover that Echizen had taken the cot next to his.

"Heika."

"No. I don't mind sharing a tent with you and no you don't have to move into another one. All I want is to sleep. So please be quiet." Echizen had his back to him when he said it.

"Ah hai!"

"And drop the formalities. Don't call me Heika."

"Ah hai."

Even though Josiah couldn't see, Echizen smirked. "Good night Josiah."

"Good night… Heika."

* * *

The night went by smoothly. Echizen awoke to Karupin pawing at his nose. He scratched him and surveyed his surroundings.

'_Oh yeah. We arrived in the angel world yesterday.'_ He thought as he got out of his cot. Karupin was sitting at his feet and meowing.

"You're hungry aren't you?" Karupin jumped on his lap and meowed. "Let's see if I can find some food for you." He picked up Karupin and carried him outside.

As he folded the flap of the tent, he almost thought that it was still night. The sky was only a shade lighter than before. If not for all the people that were out, he would have gone right back to bed. Among all of the soldiers, Echizen could see his teammates scattered around. Momo and Kaidou were with a group arguing about something. Eiji was flying around in the trees with about three others, dodging all the branches that came at them. Oishi was with someone outside of a tent with what looked like an alchemy lab learning about the plants of the land and what could be used to heal injuries. Inui was standing behind a group being lectured and taking notes. Taka was inside an enclosed circle with another knight about to get ready to have a dual. He looked nervous.

"Don't worry Taka-san. You'll be fine." Fuji said from the side.

"D-Demo…"

"Ready Kawamara-dono?" the knight asked.

"Hai." Taka sounded unmotivated.

"Will he be alright Fuji-dono?" another knight asked.

"Ah. Just watch. Taka-san, you might want to take your sword out."

"Ah, arigatou Fuji." Taka grabbed the hilt. "MOERUZE! BURNING!" the knights all jumped back. "COME ON! I'LL SHOW YOU MY STRENGTH BABY!" he took his sword out and started twirling it in front of his opponent. The knight, terrified, backed way. Taka took a step forward then ran at him. The knight ran from him and jumped over the side of the circle and ran. Taka rammed through it and ran after him. Everyone watched as the knight ran for his life.

"Will he be alright Fuji-dono?" a knight asked referring to his fleeing comrade.

Fuji was leaning in the side of the circle smiling. "Saa, who knows."

Echizen couldn't help but smile. He looked around and saw a half open tent with Tezuka, Ryoga and Leon talking with Tatsuo and Josiah. He was going to walk over to them but before he could, a knight took notice of him.

"Ohayou gozaimasu Heika!" he said rather loud with a bow. It seems like the entire camp heard him and did the same.

"Ohayou gozaimasu Heika!" Echizen looked at all of them with slight surprise.

"O-Ohayou." He replied. The knights all rose from their bows and went back to what they were doing.

"O-Chi-Biiii!" Echizen looked up to see Eiji coming straight for him with his arms extended. Echizen, expecting the worst, moved out of Eiji's line of flight causing him to crash into the tent.

"Ohayou Kikumaru-sempai." Echizen looked at him then walked towards the tent with Tezuka in it.

"Nya, Ochibi that was mean!' Eiji said rubbing his head. Echizen ignored him and continued to walk towards the tent.

"Ohayou." He walked into the tent and greeted everyone.

"Ohayou gozaimasu Heika." Both Tatsuo and Josiah said.

"Ohayou Echizen." Tezuka said.

"Ohayou Bocchan." Leon said trying to hug him.

"Hey Chibisuke. Sleep well?" Ryoga placed his arm around his shoulder.

"Ah." He turned to Josiah. "Is there anything I can give him to eat?" he gestured to the cat he was holding.

"Ahhh…" he looked to Tatsuo.

"We were just going to send people to go to the river that is nearby to get some fish." Tatsuo replied to Echizen's question.

"Soka." He set Karupin down. "Be good and don't wonder off." He started outside.

"Oi Chibisuke, where are you going?" Ryoga asked.

"To the river. Josiah, do you have an extra set of clothes I could borrow?" he asked as he folded the flap of the tent back.

"Ah Hai!" Josiah ran to his side.

"Bocchan, why would you go to the river?"

"I need to bathe." He said as he and Josiah walked out.

"Matte Chibisuke! We'll go to!" Ryoga said as he and Leon went after him. Tezuka sighed and went after them.

"I guess we'll finish this conversation later." Tatsuo said with a chuckle.

* * *

"Waa, this is fun!" Eiji did a cannon ball off of a rock.

"Eiji be careful!" Oishi yelled at him from the rock.

"Oi Mamoshi, I bet I can hold my breath longer than you!"

"Fsshhh, you're on." Momo and Kaidou both took a big breath and went under water.

"This is enjoyable. Ne Tezuka?" Fuji asked with a smile.

Tezuka ignored him and splashed water on his face.

"There should be numerous fish up stream." Inui said looking at his notes.

"Are you sure Inui-dono?" a knight asked.

Inui's glasses shined. "My calculations are never wrong."

"BURNING! I'LL CATCH ALL THOSE FISH BABY!" Taka was holding a spear and stabbing the water.

"Kawamara-dono, please calm down!" another knight said.

'_Kami-sama, why can't I get a moment of peace?'_ Echizen thought. **(Note: they are all wearing some sort of pants)**

* * *

**Flashback**

"_Matte Chibisuke! We'll go with!" Ryoga yelled at him._

"_Yadda." he and Josiah went into their tent._

"_Why?"_

"_I don't want you to." He sat down on his cot while Josiah got him an extra shirt and pants._

"_But Bocchan, It could be dangerous." Leon said._

"_He has a point Heika." Josiah said looking through the foot locker by his cot. "It would be unsafe for you to go without proper guards." He pulled out a shirt and pants and held them up towards Echizen to see if it would fit only to see Echizen glaring back at him._

"_See Chibisuke? We need to go to protect you." Ryoga said with a smile. Echizen took the clothes that Josiah was holding and went out of the tent. "Oi Chibisuke!" they all went out after him. As they did, they heard a shout. No one had tried to stop Taka so he was still running after the knight. The knight rushed passed Echizen. Taka ran straight for him swinging his sword._

"_Bocchan watch out!" Leon shouted._

_Everyone in the camp watched as Echizen removed his sword and swung it to meet Taka's. _

"_I don't need protection." Echizen parried Taka and managed to send his sword flying. "Kawamara-sempai, please try to control yourself."_

"_Warui Echizen." he said placing his hand behind his head._

_Everyone started in amazement. "Mou, it doesn't matter! We're still coming with you!" Ryoga belted out._

"_Yadda."_

"_Where are you going Echizen?" Momo said as he ran up to him._

"_Waa, I wanna come!" Eiji shouted._

"_Where are we going?" Oishi asked._

_Pretty soon all the regulars were around him asking questions. Before he could deny everyone, Ryoga told everyone._

"_Yosh minna! We're going to bathe in a river!"_

_Everyone cheered, except Tezuka. Echizen sighed and walked to the group of knights that were going originally to get the fish for breakfast._

* * *

**End of Flashback  
**

Echizen sighed as he lay floating in the water. "I'll I wanted was to be able to bathe in peace." He lay looking up at the sky. It looked like it was dusk even though it was the morning. He sighed again. He was still tired.

"Bocchan! I'll save you if you start to drown!" Leon shouted to him. Despite it being a river, it was still deep and you couldn't really see the bottom.

Echizen wasn't really paying attention to him and waved him off. He was trying to remember his previous years here. What his real parents were like. How could he let his home land get like this? He cursed himself. Even though he was an infant, he still felt responsible for it. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his leg.

"Stop it Momo-sempai."

"Stop what Echizen?" Momo asked.

Echizen straightened himself in the water to see that Momo was nowhere near him. No one was.

"But didn't you just-" there was another tug.

"Are you alright Echizen?"

Echizen looked below himself. "Ah. It's just-" he was pulled under.

"Echizen!" everyone heard Momo shout.

"What is it Momo?" Fuji asked.

"Echizen got pulled under by something!"

They all looked at him then looked at where he pointed.

"Bocchan! I'll save you!" Leon was just about to dive in but before he did, he saw bubbles then Echizen came flying out of the water and flew straight up to about the height of a tree.

Taka, Inui and the knights that were slightly up stream heard the commotion and came to see what everyone was yelling about.

"What's happening?" Inui asked.

All the knights looked at Echizen and stared in awe. They had heard stories of the Prince's wings about how they shined like the sun but they never thought they would be true.

"Echizen! Are you alright?" Oishi was in mother hen mode.

Echizen was breathing hard, trying to regain his breath, looking at the water beneath him. Before he could say anything, something that looked like black tentacles jetted out of the water and wrapped themselves around him and pulled him back into the water.

"What the hell was that?" Kaidou yelled.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga dived into the water.

"Bocchan!" Leon followed.

* * *

**Back at Camp**

"Do you think we ought to have gone with them?" Josiah asked Tatsuo.

"I'm starting to ask myself that." Tatsuo answered. "But they should be fine… I hope."

"But they should have been back by now."

Just then, Karupin, who was sleep on a cot, woke up and ran to the tent flap.

"Hm? What is it Karupin?" Josiah went to pick him up. Karupin started to growl and hiss. "What's wrong?" he went to touch him but before he could, he ran out the flap. "Oi Matte!"

They both went outside just in time to see Karupin transform and run off in the direction of the river.

"Did you see that?" Josiah pointed.

"Ah. A Divine."

"Should we follow it?"

"Divines are very loyal so it probably went to the Prince."

"What if he's in danger?"

Tatsuo thought for a moment. "You five there," he pointed to a group of knights. "Come with us and follow that divine!" They all flew off chasing after Karupin.

* * *

As they neared the river, they heard shouting. Their pace quickened and came to a halt when the river was in view. They all looked horrified. They all saw a huge creature in the center of the river with tentacles flailing everywhere trying to smack the angel that were flying around it. **(Think of the watcher in the water from LOTR)**

"Taichou! Look!" a knight pointed to one of the limbs.

Tatsuo looked at the tentacle that was pointed to.

"Heika!" Tatsuo tried to fly to him but instead caught Ryoga who was smacked back by a tentacle.

"Ryoga-dono! What's going on?" Josiah was panicked.

Ryoga coughed up a little bit of blood. "I'm not sure. One minute, we were relaxing in the river and then Chibisuke got pulled under by this huge thing and we can't seem to get him free."

"Let him go you bastard!" Momo and Kaidou both shouted as they dashed to it with their swords extended. They were about to slash the tentacle holding Echizen when another one came out and smacked them into the water.

"Momo! Kaidou!" Eiji shouted from the sky. He chanted and sent a spell at the creature. It did very little damage and Eiji got smacked into the water.

"Eiji!" Oishi was on shore healing all the knights that got hurt.

"All at once!" Tezuka shouted. He, Inui, Fuji, Leon and Taka all flew at it from different directions.

"IKE!" Momo shouted from the water.

"GO!" Kaidou shouted.

They all flew towards it but then all got smacked into the water.

"Sempai-tachi! Stop! It's no-GAAH!"

"Echizen/Ochibi/Bocchan/Chibisuke/Heika!" everyone looked up to see the creature squeeze Echizen. He was completely defenseless.

"Hold on Chibisuke! We'll get you down!" Ryoga shouted.

"W-Well, h-hurry-up!" he choked out before the creature squeeze him again and wrapped the tentacle around his neck to cut off his air supply.

"Echizen! Damn it!" Momo slapped the water and flew at the creature again.

"Momoshiro-dono! Its suicide!" Josiah shouted to him.

"I don't care! He's my friend and I'm not about to let it all end here!" the pendant around Momo's neck shined and engulfed his body. It faded away and revealed Momo in his armor.

"Momo-sempai…" Echizen didn't have any air left and passed out.

"E-CHI-ZEN!" His speed increased and he was able to dismember the creature of one of its tentacles.

"Go Momo!" Eiji shouted.

"Che. You think I'm gonna let you have all the glory to yourself?" a glow surrounded Kaidou and he appeared in his armor and joined Momo in the sky.

"We can't let them handle this by themselves." Taka said.

"Ah! We need to help save Ochibi!"

"We have to make sure he's alright!"

"No one is able to torment our team and get away with it!"

"Saa, looks like we're all in for it. Ne Tezuka?"

"Minna, yudan sezu ni ikou!"

The regulars were all engulfed in a bright light and when it faded, they were all clothed in armor. They all flew at the creature, slicing off the remainder of its limbs.

"S-Sugoi." Josiah stared in amazement.

"T-This is-"

"Ah. These are the eight knights that the King trusted so deeply." Leon said

"WAAA!" "GAAAH!" "HAAA!" Everyone shouted as they dashed at the body of the creature and speared it. It let out a howl of pain and released Echizen. Ryoga jetted up and flew to his brother. He caught him before he hit the water.

"Is he alright?" Momo shouted.

Ryoga flew to the shore and set Echizen down and placed his ear by his mouth. "He breathing!" he shouted back.

"Of- course I'm- breathing." Echizen said in a small voice.

"Chibisuke/Bocchan/ Heika!" they shouted.

"That bastard. That hurt like hell." He rubbed his neck and held his stomach. "I'll make him into fried calamari." He stood up and walked to the edge of the water.

"Chibisuke, don't move!" Ryoga said. "You could have internal bleeding for all we know!"

Echizen just ignored him and pulled out his sword. "Sempai-tachi, move."

"Echizen, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Kaidou shouted.

"Echizen!"

"Ochibi!"

"Sempai-tachi, move." Reluctantly, they all moved out of the way and flew behind him.

'Great Creator, give me the strength to rid this world of the creatures that make it impure. Allow me a weapon of great magnitude to defeat the enemy in front of me: Conception'

Echizen's sword began to glow. Everyone watched as it changed itself into a bow and one arrow. He aimed it at the creature flailing in the water.

"Rest in peace you bastard." The tip of the arrow started to glow and he let it go.

It flew through the air and nailed the beast right in what could be guested as the chest. It let out a shriek of pain and thrashed around in the water. The thrashing became less violent and pretty soon stopped and the creature turned to stone then burst into dust. Echizen lowered the bow and it changed back into a sword. He stood there for a second just looking at the water.

"Ochibi, are you alright?" Eiji asked taking a step towards him.

"Heh." He turned to face them. His breathing was very heavy. "Now everyone knows- not to- disturb me when… I bathe…" he collapsed on the ground.

"Heika/Bocchan/Ochibi/Echizen/Chibisuke!"

The last thing he remembers is seeing everyone crowd over him and calling his name.

* * *

He awoke to Karupin sitting on his chest.

"K-Karupin?" he asked in a groggy and pain stricken voice. Karupin looked at him and meowed. Echizen sat up and winced in pain. He looked at his torso to see that it was all bandaged. _'What happened?'_ he thought to himself.

Karupin jumped off his lap and ran out. "Karupin?" Echizen watched as he ran outside and came back in a minute later with Ryoga following him.

"Chibisuke!" he ran to his brother's side. "Are you alright?"

Echizen looked at his brother. "What happened?"

"Well, you defeated the river creature and passed out. You have two broken ribs and have been asleep for two days. Are you alright?"

"What time is it?"

"It's about 6:45. Are you alright?"

"In the morning or at night?"

"Morn- God damn it Chibisuke! Are you alright?"

"Hai, hai. I'm fine." he said with a small chuckle. He couldn't help but laugh at his brother's anger.

Ryoga sighed and knelt at the side of his cot and placed his head on Echizen's legs. "Don't scare me like that."

Echizen smiled and placed his hand on Ryoga's head. "Gomen."

Ryoga looked up and gave him a smile. This lovely, tender brotherly love moment was interrupted by Echizen's stomach. Ryoga laughed and Echizen blushed slightly.

"Hah. It has been two days. I'd be worried if you weren't hungry." Ryoga said with a smile

"Urasai." Echizen said making a gesture to get out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ryoga pushed him back in bed.

"I'm going to get something to eat."

"You're not leaving this tent until you're healed. I'll go get you something."

Echizen sighed and laid back on the bed. "Let someone else cook it."

"You're so mean!" he pouted. "Come on Karupin. I'll get you something too.' Karupin meowed and followed him out.

"I'm serious! Let someone else cook it!" he heard Echizen shout to him from inside the tent.

"Hai, hai. Come on Karupin." The was looking down at Karupin then lifted his head to see all the regulars, Leon, Tatsuo and Josiah standing in front of the tent and all the soldiers of the camp standing behind them. "Uhh…" he sweat dropped.

"Is he awake?" Josiah asked.

Ryoga gave them a big smile. "Ah. He's fine."

"Yatta!" everyone yelled with joy. Even a small smile crept onto Tezuka's face.

"Echizen, that bastard. Making everyone worry." Momo said crying into his arm.

Eiji couldn't help but cry. "Waa! Ochibi!" he ran past Ryoga into the tent.

"What the hell?" everyone could hear Echizen shout from his tent.

"Eiji Matte!" Oishi ran after him.

"Wait for me sempai!" Momo ran after them, still crying into his arm. Eventually, Leon and the rest of the regulars went to Echizen's tent.

"You want to go to don't you?" Ryoga asked Tatsuo and Josiah.

"Uno…" Josiah was slightly embarrassed.

"Go on. They won't mind."

"Hai." Josiah walked to the tent.

"How about you?"

"Ryoga-dono, I must speak with you about something." Tatsuo said in a serious tone.

The smile on Ryoga's face faded. "Ah. I know what we need to do. Let's talk while I get Chibisuke his breakfast." The both of them walked to where they kept the food.

* * *

"Kikumaru-sempai, Leon, get off of me." Echizen said in an un-amused.

"I'll never let you go again!" Leon said squeezing him tighter.

"Yadda! Hugs are safe!" he said crying into his hair.

"Fsshhh, your hugs aren't safe sempai." Kaidou hissed.

"Eiji let go of him! You could be hurting him!" Oishi tried to pry him off.

"Echizen… Echizen…" Momo was sobbing on the side of his cot.

"Echizen, are sure you're alright?" Taka asked.

"That resulted in good data." Inui said scribbling in his notebook.

"Saa Echizen, you gave us all quite a scare." Fuji said sitting on the other cot.

Tezuka and Echizen exchanged glances and sighed.

"Uno, are you alright Heika?" Josiah managed to squeeze in the tent.

"H-Hai, but I would be better if you could get all of them out of here." He gestured to the people around the room. Josiah sweat dropped.

"Ah, everyone is here. Good." Tatsuo and Ryoga came into the tent.

"Kami-sama, why?" Echizen looked up as if expecting an answer.

"Oi, is that anyway to treat someone who brought you breakfast?" Ryoga handed him a bowl.

"I'd be even more grateful if you got these two off me." He said in a sarcastic yet serious voice.

After prying Eiji and Leon off and getting everyone to calm down, Tatsuo told them what he told Ryoga.

"Attack the castle?" Oishi asked.

"Ah. We were planning to do it just before you arrived and now that you _are_ here, I figure that we have a better chance of succeeding."

Everyone was silent. "I know that it's a lot to think about but-"

"We'll do it." Everyone looked at Echizen who was slowly sipping his soup.

"What are you talking about Echizen?" Taka asked.

"That's what we came here to do in the first place. Why not do it with others that actually have an idea of what's going on?"

Everyone nodded and continued the conversation for a few minutes.

"Then it's decided. We'll head for the castle tomorrow." Tatsuo said.

"Ah!" everyone shouted in agreement.

"Now that that matter is settled, get out." Echizen commanded. "If we're heading out tomorrow, I want to sleep."

"Ochibi has been sleeping for two whole days! And it's barely the morning!" Eiji complained.

"Come now Eiji. He's injured and needs his rest. And we all now that he can fall sleep at any time." Oishi said motioning him out of the tent.

"Mou, demo,"

"Come on sempai. He might fall asleep tomorrow if he doesn't sleep now." Momo said trying to convince him to leave.

"Fine. Good night Ochibi."

"Good night Echizen/Bocchan/Heika." Everyone said their good nights and left.

"Chibisuke, are you really alright?" Ryoga was still worried.

"Ah. Really. I just want to sleep."

Severally doubting him but knowing that nothing would change if they kept talking, Ryoga went to the entrance of the tent.

"Chibisuke?"

"Hm?

"…Be careful tomorrow."

"Ah. Don't worry. I'll have there if I need anything."

Ryoga smiled and left.

* * *

The next day, Echizen woke up and went out of his tent to see everyone getting ready to leave.

"Heika, ohayou gozaimasu." Josiah greeted him.

"Ohayou."

"Bocchan!" Leon ran and latched onto him. "Ohayou!"

Echizen's face was full of annoyance. "Are we ready to leave yet?" he asked in a stoic tone. He really didn't want to deal with anyone right after he got up.

"Ah." He heard a voice behind him. "We just finished packing the rest of the things." Tatsuo said.

"Then let's go."

"Hai." Tatsuo yelled out a command to his troops and they all lined up.

"Are we leaving already?" Momo yelled running up behind Echizen followed by the other regulars.

"Ah. Everyone, it's time to take back what belongs to us! It's time to rid our home of the evil that lurks in every shadow!" Tatsuo said.

"AH!"

"TO THE CASTLE!"

"YAA!"

Everyone pulled out their wings and flew in the direction of the castle.

* * *

They only flew for about twenty minute before it was finally in view.

"Is that it?" Echizen asked Josiah as he pointed to a small black dot in the distance.

"Ah. That is the castle, your old home Heika."

"Heh. Finally." Echizen smirked.

**Inside the Castle**

* * *

"My Lord, one of the scouts has reported that a flock of angels is approaching from the east. What are your orders?" a demon asked.

The black-winged angel was sitting in the throne room and looked up with a smile. "Prince Ryoma. You've finally come home. I can't wait to meet you again after all these years."

* * *

**Gah! Finally! Longest chapter ever. I could have made this into at least two or three separate chapters but I was like, 'screw it' and put them all together. Sorry about taking so long to update but I wanted to make this chapter super awesome. **

**Only ONE chapter left! That one will probably be like this one and take forever to update but it adds to the suspense! **

**I hope that everyone has enjoyed every minute of reading like I have enjoyed every minute of writing! Thank you to everyone that has stuck with me this whole and reviewed! You guys are remarkable! If anyone cares, I'm going to redo all the chapters and try to make them as perfect and error free as possible.**

**Almost the last time, forgive mistakes!**

**See ya in a while!**


	26. It Ends Now

**Hey guys! Hope you're ready for what I have in store! God, it's been so long. Really sorry about it taking forever. Procrastination is a beotch.**

**I wanna give a huge thanks to all of the people who faved my story and all the people who have been commenting and subscribing. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you guys!**

**For the final time, as much as I wish it wasn't true, I DO NOT own Prince of Tennis.**

**Here it is. The last chapter. Hope you guys have enjoyed the story!**

* * *

They only flew for about twenty minute before it was finally in view.

"Is that it?" Echizen asked Josiah as he pointed to a small black dot in the distance.

"Ah. That is the castle, your old home Heika."

"Heh. Finally." Echizen smirked.

**Inside the Castle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"My Lord, one of the scouts has reported that a flock of angels is approaching from the east. What are your orders?" a demon asked.

The black-winged angel was sitting in the throne room and looked up with a smile. "Prince Ryoma. You've finally come home. I can't wait to meet you again after all these years."

* * *

Everyone decided to rest before they made their assault on the castle, except Echizen.

"Hanashiteyo! You two are heavy!" Echizen shouted at the two dangling from his feet.

"Chibisuke, I know how you feel but we need to rest!" His brother shouted to him.

"Bocchan, please just go down with the others!" Leon said gripping his leg.

"How can he be so stubborn at a time like this?" Oishi said placing his hand on his head.

Everyone nodded and watched the spectacle that was going on above their heads. Ryoga and Leon were each holding onto one of Echizen's legs. When the idea of taking a rest was suggested, while everyone landed on the ground, Echizen kept flying. Thinking that he didn't hear them, Leon and Ryoga went to tell him but he said that he didn't need a rest and kept flying. For lack of having a better way of stopping him, Ryoga grabbed onto his leg and put his wings away. Echizen just kept flying. Ryoga called for Leon to come and the same. Now they were both hanging on to him trying to make him go to the ground.

"Hanashiteyo!" Echizen was doing his best not to fall to the ground.

"Chibisuke, just-*grunt*-rest for a minute!"

"Bocchan, please!"

"Yadda! Hanashiteyo!"

Ryoga sighed and looked to Tatsuo and nodded. Tatsuo nodded back. "Gomen Heika." He took out a small tube, inserted a dart and blew it at Echizen. He felt a prick in his neck.

"Itai. What- was… th…" Echizen trailed off and lost consciousness. He began to drop and as he did, Leon and Ryoga brought out their wings and caught him. They slowly floated to the ground and joined the others.

"What did you do?" Momo asked turning to Tatsuo.

"Simple sleeping powder. He should wake up in about ten minutes." He responded placing the tube back in his pocket.

"I really didn't want that to happen but I couldn't think of any other way to calm him down." Ryoga said gently placing his brother on the ground. "Anyway, we need to think of what to do when we get there. I doubt that we can just walk up to the gate and be let in."

"Ryoga-dono is right." Tatsuo agreed. "What will be our plan of attack?"

"How about we-" Momo was stopped by the stares everyone gave him. "Ah, maybe not…" he sweat dropped.

"I have thought of the most logical strategy of attack." Inui proceeded to take out his notebook and read everyone his plan. **(No details, I have no idea what they are going to do yet)**

* * *

After a few minutes of talking everyone heard groaning behind them.

"Uuaaggh, Ryoga you bastard." Echizen said placing his hand over his eyes.

"But Tatsuo-san was the one that did it!" Ryoga complained back.

Tatsuo gave him a 'you made me do it' stare.

"He's a bastard too."

"Are you alright Echizen?" Fuji asked.

Echizen made no noise but gave a wave in their general direction.

"Heh. Someone's grumpier than usual." Momo said with a chuckle as everyone continued talking.

"Urasai." He sat up and rubbed the side of his face. _'What the hell did do?'_ He got up and began to walk to where everyone was talking but stopped and looked towards the trees to his left. There was a rustle among dead foliage on the ground and the somewhat alive bushes. Curiosity taking over, he went to check it out.

"Heika?" a knight caught sight of him. "Heika, it's not good if you go wandering off."

Ignoring him completely, Echizen ventured into the bushes in search for what was moving them.

"Heika, please don't go off by yourself!" two knights went after him.

"Where are you going?" Josiah shouted to them.

"Ah, well, the Prince went into the trees." A knight replied as he pointed to the direction Echizen went.

"Mataku. Where is he going?" Ryoga said as he got up and headed to where the knight pointed. "I'll get him. Where'd you say?" he asked the knight.

"This way Ryoga-dono." The knight led Ryoga in the direction that Echizen was headed.

"Saa, I wonder where Echizen's going." Fuji said with a smile.

"Maybe he's trying to get to the castle without us." Momo said.

"Fsshhh, why would he bring us just to do that? Baka." Kaidou hissed.

Momo gave him a glare.

"I'm sure he wouldn't do that." Taka reassured him.

"Anyway, please continue Inui-dono." Tatsuo said.

Inui cleared his throat. "As I was saying…"

* * *

"Heika!"

"Heika! Doko ikuno Heika?"

"Oi Chibisuke, where are you?"

The three looked where they thought Echizen had gone.

"Damn it. Where'd he go?" Ryoga put his hand on the side of his head.

"Gomen Ryoga-dono." A knight said with a bow.

"We should have been watching him closer." The other said.

"Iya, he's always like this." Ryoga tried to convince them it wasn't their fault. There was a rustle in the bushed behind them. Echizen popped out and ran into a knight causing him to stumble forward and Echizen to fall back.

"Heika!"

"Heika! Are you alright?"

"Chibisuke, why'd you come out here?" Ryoga offered his hand.

"Talk later. Run now." Echizen got up and started to run back to everyone else.

"Chibisuke, what are you talking about?" Ryoga shouted at him. Just then, the bushes rustled and a huge wolf-like creature jumped between Ryoga and the knights and chased after Echizen.

"Ah! What was that?" a knight shouted.

"Why was it after the Prince?" the other shouted.

"We can ask ourselves that later!" Ryoga and the two knights ran after Echizen and the beast chasing him.

* * *

"Saa, I think we can make that work." Fuji said with a smile.

"Uno, Inui, can you say that again?" Taka asked.

"Which part Taka-san?" he flipped through his notebook.

"Nya, all of it! I didn't understand a word you said!" Eiji pouted.

"Okay Eiji, it goes like this-" Oishi proceeded to tell Eiji the plan again while drawing pictures in the dirt to help him understand better.

"Chibisuke!" they were all interrupted by Ryoga yelling for his brother as he ran out of the trees.

"Ryoga-san what happened? Where's Echizen?" Momo asked.

"Ara? You mean- he's not- back?" he said trying to regain his breath.

"We haven't seen him since he went into the trees. Did you see him?" Josiah said.

"Ah, but he ran back in this direction. He was being chased by something."

"Bocchan! Where are you?" Leon was starting to get a little panicky.

"Leon move!" they all heard a voice from the trees. Echizen came flying out with the wolf creature attached to his arm. It was blackened but everyone could tell that its original color was that of fine silver. Its eyes were blood red and had intent to kill. He fell back and the creature fell onto of him, his arm still in its jaws.

"Nani kore?" Eiji shouted.

"Bocchan!" Leon drew his sword and dashed at the creature biting Echizen's arm.

"Stop! It's not his fault!" Echizen shouted from under the beast.

"Heika, what are you talking about?" Tatsuo shouted.

"The collar!" he pointed to a black ring around the wolf's neck.

Leon looked at the ring around its neck. He pulled two feathers and brought out his brass knuckles and in one swift motion punched the ring causing it to shatter. Once done, the darkness of its fur went away and its eyes became a calm mahogany. It looked at Echizen who was trying not to cringe from the pain. He let go of his arm and stepped to the side of him. Echizen sat up and winced as he accidently put pressure on his injured arm. The wolf saw and took a step closer and looked him in the eye. He nudged his arm then started to lick it.

"Sugoi." Josiah said.

"Bocchan are you alright?" Leon rushed to his side.

"A-Ah." He winced.

"Echizen! Let me see your arm!" Oishi had rushed over to examine the wound. The wolf stopped licking it so Echizen could pull away and show Oishi.

"Nya, does it hurt Ochibi?" Eiji asked.

"Iie, not so much anymore."

"Echizen, why did you run off?" Tezuka asked in a stern voice.

Echizen lowered his head while Oishi wrapped his arm and mumbled something.

"Echizen, speak up. We can't here you." Momo said.

He lowered his head more and blushed a little. "It was fluffy…" he said again. Everyone looked at him with slightly confused faces.

"Maa, Chibisuke's so cute! He can't resist if he sees something cute and furry!" Ryoga teased kneeling beside him and clapping him on the back. Echizen gave him a glare. Everyone sweat dropped and Kaidou blushed a little.

"Anyway," Tatsuo said clearing his voice. "We should head out. It will be dark in an hour or so. It will be more dangerous to travel."

"Ah. The sooner we get this over with, the better." Echizen took Momo's hand and pulled himself up. They all walked towards the groups of soldiers when Echizen felt a tug on his shirt. He looked back to see the wolf. It nudged his arm and licked it again. Echizen turned to face it, knelt down and pet it.

"I know you didn't mean it." He said with a small smile. "Go on. I'm not mad." He patted it again and got up and went to the others. Just as he was about to join them, the wolf barked. He turned back to it and saw something lying on the ground. _'Nani kore?'_ he thought to himself. "Is this for me?" the wolf barked again and then ran off. He knelt down to see what was on the ground. He picked it up to discover that it was a hemp bracelet with the figure of a wolf with wings on it.

"Chibisuke, hurry up or we'll leave you behind!" his brother called to him.

"Hai, hai." Echizen said in a bored voice. He put on the bracelet and caught up with the others.

"What were you doing Echizen?" Taka asked

"Betsuni." He looked at everyone. "Are we ready?"

"Hai Heika." Josiah responded.

Echizen smirked. "Then let's go."

"Ah!" everyone cheered.

* * *

Everyone flew to the castle and surprisingly, no one and nothing stopped them.

"That seemed too easy." Leon said.

"Maybe they all decided we were too much and left." Momo said taking a step forward.

Everyone sweat dropped.

"If it were only that simple Momoshiro-kun." Leon said face palming.

"Why can't it be? I mean, can't it be simple fo-"

"Momo-sempai!" Momo was cut off by Echizen tackling him.

"Gah! Echizen! What was that for?"

"You really need to learn to shut up." Echizen pointed to the arrow that had landed behind them.

Momo looked horrified.

"Oh dear. It missed." A figure appeared on the balcony.

"Kisama."

"Echizen, Momo, daijobuka?" everyone asked as they went to help them up.

"I believe that you have gotten sloppy My Prince." The figure stepped out further on the balcony.

"Bastard. Who are you?" Echizen said getting up and taking a step closer to the castle.

"Forgive me My Prince. Perhaps this will help you recognize me." He stepped to the edge of the balcony. He took a deep breath and a pair of pitch black wings appeared on his back.

Everyone gaped. "I-It's you." Josiah said.

"You're the bastard that did all this?" Leon shouted.

"Kisama! I'll kill you!" Momo and Kaidou both started to get ready to attack but Echizen stopped them.

"Echizen?"

"What are you doing?"

Ryoga could see that he was shaking. "Chibisuke?" he went to put his hand on his brother's shoulder when he noticed that he was crying.

"…bastard…" he whispered as he was staring at the ground.

"Chibisuke?"

"YOU BASTARD!" Echizen leapt off the ground and flew towards the figure, sword and all, ready to kill.

"Echizen/Chibisuke/Bocchan/Ochibi/Heika!"

"I must advise you, that isn't a smart idea."

Echizen got right to the point where he was able to slash the fallen angel. Just as he was going to, the angel brought out his own sword and knocked Echizen's out of his hand.

"My Prince, I do not wish to fight."

"You have no right to call me that!" Echizen pulled out a short sword but it quickly got knocked away.

"My Prince, please calm DOWN." The angel rose above Echizen and punched him to the ground. He landed with a bang.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Chibisuke/Bocchan/Heika!" everyone ran to his side but before they could get to him, a black circle appeared below him and he fell into the darkness.

"If you want the Prince, try to find him." The angel on the balcony went back inside.

"You bastard! Get back here!" Momo shouted.

"Give Ochibi back!" Eiji and Momo both started running for the castle entrance but stopped when dozens of demons appeared and surrounded everyone.

"That bastard. He intends to not let us find Echizen." Kaidou said.

"Ryoga-dono, take the guardians and go. We'll handle things here." Tatsuo drew his sword.

"We can't just abandon you." Ryoga protested.

"You're not abandoning us Ryoga-dono." Josiah said. "We lost our prince once. We will not lose him again. Go!"

"Demo…"

"We'll be fine. Please go!"

"…You better be safe when we come back."

Tatsuo smirked. "Of course. Go!"

Leon cleared a path through the demons and all the regulars ran into the castle. A number of demons tried to follow but were stopped.

"You need something to play with?" Tatsuo and Josiah raised their swords. "Come and get it."

* * *

Echizen awoke in a dark room with only a small hole in the ceiling for light. Upon trying to move, he discovered himself shackled to the wall.

"What the hell?" his head hurt. He tried to get out of the restraints but to no avail.

"Are you awake my Prince?" he heard a voice call out to him. A figure stepped into the small ray of light with black wings on his back. "Forgive me, I did not mean to be so forceful with you earlier."

Echizen's blood began to boil. "Don't call me that you bastard."

"Forgive me; I did not have a chance to properly introduce myself at our earlier encounter. I am Yuji Ryuu. You may call me Ryuu if you like."

"I don't give a damn who you are!" he started to struggle. "Let me out of here!"

"Now, now, where would be the fun in that?" he gave a sinister smile. "I bet you're wondering what you're doing here. The answer is simple." Echizen stopped struggling and stared. Ryuu stared back and their eyes met **(soo corny)** in a deadlock. "I'm going to break you."

"What the hell are you taking about?"

Ryuu smirked and stood in front of Echizen. Echizen suddenly felt s sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see a dagger.

He winced in pain. "You bastard."

"Heh. Let's see what it takes to make Echizen Ryoma, Prince of Angels, cry for help."

* * *

"Ochibiiii! Doko desuka?" Eiji was shouting through the halls of the castle.

"Sempai, we all want to find him but shouting wi-" Kaidou got cut off.

"Oi Echizen! Where are you?" Momo had begun shouting too.

Kaidou sighed. "Baka."

"Momoshiro-kun, Kikumaru-kun, I know that you're worried but we need to b-" Ryoga was cut off.

"BOCCHAN! DOKO IKUNO, BOCCHAN!" Leon was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"You're not helping!" Ryoga punched Leon on the top of his head. "I know everyone is concerned about Chibisuke but we need to be quiet!" he turned to Karupin who had been following them. "Can you smell where he is?"

Karupin started sniffing around everywhere when looked back at him and gave him a sympathetic meow.

"Ryoga-san is right. We could alert the enemy if we keep shouting." Fuji said.

"Why haven't we been attacked yet?" Taka asked. "I would think that we would have by now."

"Taka-san is right." Inui flipped open his notebook. "By my calculations, we should have seen at least one enemy since we've entered. We haven't seen any."

"Inui-kun is right." Leon said rubbing his head. "Why haven't we been attacked?"

"If you wanted to be, you should have said so sooner." A voice came out of nowhere. There was a sudden yelp. Everyone turned to see Taka holding his arm and an arrow on the ground.

"Taka-san!"

"Taka-san!"

"Takashi-kun!"

"Who's there?" Tezuka shouted.

"Aaaw! And I thought that I improved!" everyone saw a figure jump down from the second level.

"Are you alright Taka-san?" Oishi asked looking at the small wound on his arm.

"A-Ah. I'll be fine."

"Kisama. Who are you?" Eiji asked.

"Mou, so forceful. I'm Tao Ren and Ryuu-sama says that you have interfered with his plans with the Prince need to be disposed of." Ren was a demon that looked a little younger than Echizen. Short brown hair, demon wings like stone, black shirt and shorts.

"Bastard. Where is he?" Kaidou took a step forward.

"How should I know? Ryuu-sama never tells me where he goes anymore." Ren pouted. "He said that I just have to kill you and then I can kill to my heart's content on that place that you live." He said with a smile as he loaded another arrow to his bow.

"Damn it! Tell us were Echizen is!" Momo said.

"I already told you, I don't know!" he fired the arrow at Momo.

Momo pulled out his sword and cut the arrow in two. "Usotsuki! Tell us where he is!"

"I told you!" he loaded another arrow. "I don't kn-" there was an explosion in a nearby hall from a staircase leading beneath the castle. "…know."

"What was that?" Fuji asked as his eyes popped open and stared down Ren.

Ren started backing away. "I don't know!" he shouted. His bow cracked from the pressure of how hard he was squeezing it and then shattered. The pieces all flew through the air and went over everyone.

"What's this?" Oishi asked.

"I don't like any of you! I was going to torment you a little more but you're scary!" he pointed to Fuji. "I'll kill you right now!' the shards of the bow turned into arrow and were pointed at the regulars.

"What is this?" Eiji said.

"Die!" Ren hurled himself at Fuji, sword in hand. Fuji quickly pulled out his sword and blocked but was pushed away from everyone.

"Fuji!" Tezuka was about to run to his side when he was pulled back.

"Tezuka-kun dame!" Ryoga held his shoulder.

"Why are you stopping me?"

"If we move from this spot, the arrows will fire."

"What?"

Ryoga took a feather and threw it towards Fuji and Ren. Almost immediately after it left Ryoga's hand an arrow flew from its spot and stuck it to the ground.

"We're powerless in this situation."

"Nya, but Fujiko needs us!" Eiji took a step.

"I know how you feel Kikumaru-kun." Leon put a hand on his shoulder. "But unless you want to get pierced many times, we must stay put."

Eiji pouted. "Fuji! You can do it!"

"Ah. Arigatou Eiji." Fuji said in a calm voice as he blocked Ren yet again.

"Mou! How can you be this strong? Ryuu-sama told me that humans are weak!" Ren said as he tried yet again to slash Fuji.

"You shouldn't underestimate your opponents." Fuji said as he sent Ren's sword flying.

Ren gave him a glare. "I guess I should get serious." Another sword came to his hand and he dashed at Fuji.

When they clashed, Fuji stumbled but was able to block.

"Nani? Fuji's being pushed back." Taka said.

'_His attack was stronger this time.' _Fuji thought to himself.

"What's this?" he snapped out of his thoughts when Ren spoke. "What was that about underestimating your opponent?" he knocked Fuji's sword away and kicked him in the stomach. He fell back onto a wall.

"Fuji!" everyone shouted.

"Like I said," Ren raised his sword. "Humans are weak." He swung his sword to meet Fuji's person but stopped when he felt a burning sensation in his stomach.

"But angels are strong." He turned his head. "And friendship is stronger."

"M-My P-Pri…nce." Ren dissolved into tiny particles and disappeared. The arrows above everyone else disappeared too.

"Echizen!" Fuji shouted.

Echizen was standing in front of Fuji. His face was covered in blood. His arms and legs were full of lacerations and there was a huge blood spot on his side which he was holding with his hand.

His sword clattered to the floor. "Fuji-sem…pai." He fell into Fuji's arms.

"Echizen!" Fuji's eyes were wide open as he caught Echizen.

"Echizen/Bocchan/Ochibi/Chibisuke!" everyone ran to his side.

"God, what the hell did they do to him?" Momo asked as he knelt beside his unconscious teammate.

"His pulse is weak and breathing is unsteady. Oishi-kun." Ryoga moved out of the way so Oishi could try to heal his wounds.

Oishi pulled up Echizen's shirt so that everyone could see the deep puncture wound in his side and multiple slashes on his torso. He plucked a few feathers and laid them over the wounds. They swiftly turned into bandages and wrapped themselves around his body. He did the same to his head and closed the lacerations on his arms and legs with a healing spell.

"That should last for a while." Oishi said sitting back. "I would feel more at ease if he were awake though."

"Who did this to Ochibi? I'll kill him!" Eiji was steaming with anger.

Ryoga knelt back down besides his bloodied brother and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Minna, place a hand on him and I'll show you what happened."

They all complied and placed a hand on Echizen. Ryoga muttered something and started to glow. The regulars all watched then their faces all gave blank stares as the memories from Echizen were flowing into them.

* * *

**Flashback**

"_I must say, I'm impressed. Not even my elite soldiers would be able to stand up to this kind of pain." Ryuu had a smile on his face as he slowly sliced Echizen's skin._

"_You… bastard. I'll kill you." Echizen coughed up a small mouthful of blood._

"_How will you be able to kill me when you'll be dead?" He thrust the dagger back into the place he had first stabbed him. Echizen gave a rather loud groan of pain. "Aw. You're not done yet are you?"_

"_Go to hell."_

"_Heh. That is no way for a prince to talk." He slowly started to turn the embedded dagger. Echizen let out a loud shriek of pain. "That's what I like to hear. If you would only call for help, I would end it."_

_Echizen looked him in the eye and spat._

"_I love that look." He began recklessly slashing Echizen._

_Echizen held his head up and tried not to scream. 'Kami-sama, help me. I can't do this alone. Please, it hurts. Save me!'_

_The room started to fill with dim gray glow._

"_Where the hell is that light coming from?" Ryuu stopped cutting up Echizen and looked around for the source. The glow seemed to be coming from one of the shackles holding Echizen on the wall. "What the hell is this?" He removed the shackle to discover that the bracelet Echizen had on was the source of the glow._

_The glow grew bigger and brighter until it filled the whole room._

"_What the hell?" Ryuu started to back away. There was a crash on Echizen's left side, causing the shackle to fall, freeing him. "What was that?"_

_Standing in front of Echizen was a wolf-like beast with a fine silver coat and mahogany eyes. It snarled at Ryuu and took a position if ready to attack._

"_Hn? Interesting." Ryuu rubbed his chin. "I never would have thought." He took a step into the shadows. "It's been fun My Prince. Come to where the end began and the beginning shall take place if you want to finish our conversation." He faded into the shadows._

"_Mat-" Echizen could barely speak. He was sitting on the ground in a pool of his own blood. It hurt to breathe and he was coughing up little bits of blood with every breath. The pain was immense. He couldn't stop the tears that started pouring down his face. _

_The wolf turned to Echizen and licked his face. He looked at it with a smile. Then the wolf carefully tugged on Echizen's shirt for him to get up. When he tried, he fell back from the pain but the wolf nudged him and placed itself under his arm. It took him to a staircase and when Echizen denied being able climb it, the wolf placed itself in between his legs and carried him. _**(If no one has ever seen a wolf, they're pretty effing big but little exaggeration in the story for how big it really is) **_When at the top, Echizen got off and walked to the doorway. He saw Fuji in danger and his instincts took over._

**Flashback End**

* * *

When everyone was back from peering into Echizen's mind, they saw the wolf sitting beside them.

"You're the once that saved Chibisuke? Arigatou." Ryoga gave it a pet and smile. It gave him a small bark.

"Nya, Ochibi's savor!" Eiji latched onto the wolf and started crying into its fur. "Arigatou!"

Everyone gave an amused laugh. Everyone but Tezuka. He was staring at Fuji who in turn was staring at Echizen. He had a small line of tears going down his face.

"Fuji."

"He could barely speak, yet he came up here and protected me."

"Fuji…"

"It done with Fuji-sempai." They all heard a voice. "Leave the past in the past and focus on the present."

"Echizen/Ochibi/Bocchan/Chibisuke!"

"That's what friends are for Fuji-sempai."

Fuji looked at him for a moment and smiled. "Ah."

"Bocchan, are you alright?" Leon asked in a very concerned voice.

"A-Ah." He tried to sit up.

"Echizen, don't try to move! You'll open your wound again." Taka said trying to keep him from sitting up.

"I'm fine Kawamara-sempai." He winced and held his side.

"Bocchan, don't push yourself." Leon steadied him.

"I'm fine. We need to go."

"Go where?" Oishi asked.

"'The place where the end began and the beginning shall take place." Inui said reading from his notebook.

"Nya, where's that?" Eiji had a question mark pop off his head.

"The throne room." Ryoga said.

Everyone looked at him. Echizen got to his feet.

"Ah. The end of our life in the angel world and beginning of our new life on earth."

"Now that we know where the bastard is," Echizen stumbled a bit. "We can end this."

"Echizen, you are in no condition." Tezuka said.

"I have to do this." He steadied himself. "I'm the reason all of this happened. I need to end it."

"Bocchan…"

"You mean _we_ have to do this." Momo slung his arm around Echizen.

"Nya, no way is Ochibi going to fight that guy alone!"

"Fsshhh... we'll show that bastard what happens when he messes with us."

"I'm sure we'll be stronger if we're all together."

"Our chance to beat him as a group is higher than a single person."

"Saa, we cannot let this deed go unpunished."

"We're a team. We'll do this together."

"You have our support, Echizen."

Echizen looked at his sempai-tachi and gave a small smile. "Sempai-tachi are persistent."

"Yosh. I think we know what we need to do." Ryoga said.

"Ah." Echizen stood at the front of everyone. "Let's go show that bastard what happens when you mess with the Seigaku Regulars." **(Again, soo corny)**

* * *

After few minutes of walking, stopping every few minutes so Echizen could catch his breath, they all reached the door to the throne room. They all stared at the door, wondering what would happen once they entered.

"We're here." Momo pointed out the obvious.

"Fsshhh." Kaidou gave an angry hiss.

"Nya, I won't forgive the guy who hurt Ochibi!" Eiji clenched his fist.

"Ready for this Chibisuke?" Ryoga pulled out his staff as the others all pulled out their weapons.

"Ah." Echizen pulled out his long sword. "I've been ready for this for a long time." **(What's up with all the cornyness?)**

He pushed the doors open and everyone advanced. Once inside, they saw a figure sitting on the King's throne.

"Welcome My Prince." They heard Ryuu call to them.

"That bastard." Kaidou hissed.

Ryuu got up from the throne and walked towards them.

"What the hell is he doing?" Momo tightened the grip on his sword.

Everyone had their weapons ready. Who knows who would be the first to attack. Ryuu stopped a few feet from them and bowed.

"My Prince, I wish that we could finish our conversation from earlier, alone." He looked at Echizen then everyone else. Echizen gave him a glare. The regulars all formed a circle around him. The wolf and Karupin were on either side of him.

"You'll have to get though us first." Taka said.

"No way you're touching Ochibi!" Eiji pointed his sword at him.

"'Get through you first' huh? I think that can be arranged." Ryuu snapped his fingers and the floor under them started to crumble. Soon, everyone had their wings out and was hovering over a black abyss. "First, we take out the healer."

Oishi's eyes widened and then slide into a glare. They all heard a noise below them and looked down. A huge, black, worm-like creature appeared. It slammed what appeared to be its head into Oishi in turn slamming him against the wall. A chain came out of nowhere and shackled him against the wall. The chain went around his arms, legs, neck and wings, rendering him completely helpless.

"Oishi!" Eiji quickly flew towards him.

"Next, the agile child." Another worm creature came from the abyss and slammed Eiji against the wall and was bound.

"Eiji-sempai! Oishi-sempai! Teme!" Momo started to fly at Ryuu.

"Then, the muscle." A worm came from in front of him and smacked Momo to the wall. Another went to the remaining regulars and smacked Kaidou and Taka to the wall.

"Momo, Kaidou, Taka-san!"

"Followed by intelligence." Another worm surfaced and slammed Inui into the wall.

"Inui-sempai!"

"And last, the commander and prosecutor." Tezuka and Fuji glared. Just as a worm was about to smack them into the wall with their teammates, they dodged, going on either side of it.

"Ha-ho. As expected. You two are more advanced than the others." Ryuu smirked as more worms came up from below. While trying to render Tezuka and Fuji defenseless, the worms were also going after Ryoga, Leon and Echizen. Ryoga and Leon were able to dodge but because of his injuries, Echizen had some trouble. He was out of the way quick enough to only catch the parcel power of the worms.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga rushed to his side.

"Bocchan!" Leon did the same.

In that time, Tezuka and Fuji had been smacked to the wall. As Leon and Ryoga were approaching Echizen, a worm came from directly under them and smacked them into the ceiling. As they fell, another came from the side and smacked them into the wall.

"Minna!" Echizen cried out to them as they all struggled to break free of their binds.

"Bocchan be careful!" Leon tried to gesture to Ryuu who was slowly getting closer.

"My, I can't believe you last that long." Echizen blinked and he was gone.

"Echizen behind you!" Inui shouted. Echizen turned to see Ryuu standing right behind him.

"With a wound like this, I would have collapsed ages ago." He punched Echizen right where he was stabbed earlier. He let out a yelp of pain as he flew back and held his side.

"You bastard!" Momo, Fuji and Kaidou yelled. Ryuu scowled at them then turned to Echizen.

"Your knights are rather loud. I can't concentrate properly." He snapped his fingers and ten swords appeared in front of everyone.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Echizen cried as he steadied himself.

"Getting rid of distractions." With a swift movement of his finger, the swords plunged themselves into the stomachs of the helpless figures on the wall.

The room filled with howls of pain and agony. Echizen floated for a second, not able to comprehend what had just happened.

"SEMPAI-TACHI! RYOGA, LEON!" he shouted as he watched in complete horror as their clothes slowly begin to get red.

"E-Echiz-en, we'-ll… be fine." Oishi said trying to hold back his tears.

"Be…at th-e shit o-ut… of tha-t guy Echi-zen." Momo said gasping for breath.

"B-Be –str-ong E-Echi-zen." Taka's head was drooping.

"Go g-et him… O-Chi-bi." Eiji was practically silent.

"Go… Ech-ize…n." Kaidou's head dropped.

"Echi-zen, you… can s-still bea-t…him." Inui's glasses were sliding off his face.

"N-Nev...er gi-ve up…" Fuji's eyes started to close.

"We wi…ll alwa-ys be th-ere as… you-r su-pport." Tezuka went limp.

"B-Boc…chan, nev-er… forget…" Leon started to mumble.

"Chi-bi…suke…" Ryoga gave him one last smile.

Echizen watched in horror as his teammates, friends and family members all went limp and stopped struggling to get free. Tears started rolling down his face. Karupin and the silver wolf, understanding the situation that they were in and the sorrow that filled the room, grew angry. They both started to snarl and growl at Ryuu.

"Oh dear, I think they're dead." Ryuu gave an amused smile. The wolf and Karupin both leapt at him but were bashed aside and thrown into a cage. "With no interruptions, we should be able to continue where we left off." Ryuu dashed to the front of Echizen but Echizen didn't move. "What's this? Finally given up? So be it." He raised his sword and prepared to slash Echizen.

All of a sudden, a huge light erupted from Echizen. It caused Ryuu to be thrown against the wall, all the worms and the abyss disappeared and the chains around all of his friends disappeared and they slowly floated to the ground. The cage that Karupin was in dissolved and they went to the regulars.

"What the hell is this?" Ryuu tried to free himself from the wall.

Echizen was floating in the middle of the room. His wings were out and shining a light that you could go blind from if you looked directly at it. All the blood stains from his clothes were gone and his wounds healed.

"You who have desolated this land, tainted it with evil, dare to raise your sword at me?" Echizen pointed his own sword at his which was glowing just as bright as his wings. "You dare to destroy this sacred land with your un-holiness? You shall be damned for all eternity and centuries to come. You shall die by my hand."

"Let's see who shall die by whose hand." Ryuu lunged at Echizen and Echizen lunged at Ryuu. Their swords met in a clash. They swung them again, creating sparks as they crash together.

"You cannot beat me." Ryuu had a ball of black matter in hand and threw it at Echizen causing him to fly back into the wall. "You're weak."

"I'm not weak." The glow around Echizen got even brighter and a second pair of wings appeared.

"What the hell?" Ryuu floated back a little. "What are you?"

He pulled out another sword. "I am Echizen Ryoma. I am a member of the Seigaku Tennis Club and I am the Prince of Angels."

"You're cockier than I thought!" Ryuu dashed towards him. He brought his sword over his head and swung it down to slash Echizen. He didn't move. Echizen grabbed the incoming sword and crushed it into dust. Ryuu watched in dismay. He blinked and Echizen had the two swords in front of him.

"You killed my family, comrades, followers, people of this land and you threatened to kill me and my friends." He placed the swords in the form of an 'X' and raised them over his head. "You don't deserve to live." He swung his swords and let out an 'X' shaped light. It flew to Ryuu and sliced his body.

He didn't realize what had just happened. He just stood there. The 'X' wound started spraying out blood. Ryuu looked at himself and finally realized what had happened.

"Ho-w could… this happ-en…?" he fell to the floor with a thud. Echizen floated down and stood over him. "De-fea-ted by a… mire child…"

Echizen raised his swords. "I am no child." And plunged them into Ryuu's stomach.

Ryuu gave a grunt of pain then smiled at Echizen. "I am… glad to- die by yo…ur han-ds, my… pri…nce…" he fell silent and faded into the darkness.

"Rest in peace, you bastard." Echizen turned away from him and walked over to where the others where all lying. He looked at them with sorrowful eyes. Karupin made a gesture to him. He gave Karupin a smile and took a deep breath. His body began to shine again and both sets of his wings were fully extended. The light went from him to all the unconscious people lying on the ground. He watched as the bloody spots and rips in their clothes all vanished.

"Nngguuh…" they all started to grown and wake up.

"Ugh, what happened?" Taka sat up and held his head.

"Didn't we…" Momo didn't want to finish the sentence and only looked at his stomach and how he was perfectly fine.

"What's that light?" Kaidou pointed.

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga was able to make out Echizen's shape. Echizen looked at all of them and smiled. The glow disappeared and he dropped to the floor. Ryoga ran to his side and held him in his arms. "Chibisuke what did you do?" Echizen just kept smiling at him.

"Ochibi!" Eiji ran to his side.

"Kikumaru-sempai."

"Echizen are you alright?" Everyone started to crowd around. He looked at everyone and gave a weak smile.

"Echizen, thank God." Momo dropped to his knees. Doing so, he saw Ryoga holding something and crying. "Ryoga-san…"

"Ryoga, what's wrong?" Leon placed his hand on his shoulder and knelt beside him.

"Leon…" Ryoga opened his hand to show Leon Echizen's pendant. His face was horror struck. He got up and took a few steps back.

"Leon-san, what's the matter?" Oishi asked.

Leon looked at the ground and started to cry. "His… pendant…"

The regulars all crowded around Ryoga and Ryoma and looked at the small pendant in Ryoga's hand. It was no longer Echizen's color. The wings that were the color of the sun were now a dark shade of gray and the sword going across them was now black.

"What does that mean?" Inui asked.

"When the color on an angel's pendant disappears…" Leon didn't want to finish his sentence.

"What happens?" Fuji asked.

"That angel dies." Everyone now turned to Ryoga who was fully crying.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Momo's voice had a tone of anger and fear.

"It's as it sounds Momo-sempai." Echizen spoke.

"Chibisuke! You idiot!" Ryoga pulled him into a hug. "Why?"

Echizen hugged him back. "I had to save the people I care about."

"Chibisuke!" Ryoga hugged him tighter and sobbed into his head.

"Echizen, what do you mean?" Tezuka's voice was shaking.

"I don't want any more people to die for me." He grunted in pain.

"Echizen!" everyone gathered closer.

"Ochibi…" Eiji began crying on Taka's shoulder.

"Echizen, this is a joke right." Kaidou dropped to his knees.

Echizen smirked. "If only Kaidou-sempai." He gave another grunt and his breathing slowed.

"Chibisuke…" Ryoga let him out of the hug. "You promised…"

"You of all people know that-*grunt*- I can never keep my promises." He started to cough up little amounts of blood.

"Echizen/Ochibi/Bocchan/Chibisuke!" they all looked at him with tears starting to run down their faces. He looked at all of them and smiled.

"Sempai-tachi, Leon… Aniki, no matter… how much it didn't… seem like it, I've always… loved you." He reached up and put his hand on Ryoga's face then it dropped to the floor.

"Chibisuke?" Ryoga looked down at the lifeless figure in his arms. "Chibisuke!" Everyone stared in horror. "CHIBISUKE!" Ryoga pulled the lifeless boy into a hug and started bawling.

"Echizen. This isn't funny. Open your eyes damn it!" Momo wailed as he banged his hands on the floor.

"Echizen…" Tezuka and Fuji had tears streaming down their faces like a river.

Eiji and Oishi were crying on Taka shoulders. He couldn't stop the tears from coming. Inui's tears were running down his face, dripping onto his notebook. Kaidou was kneeling facing the floor. As much as he didn't want it, he couldn't stop the tears pouring onto the ground.

"Bocchan…" Leon was slumped on the ground, tears rolling down his face equally as much as everyone else.

"Chibisuke… Chibisuke…" Ryoga kept sobbing into his brother's hair.

Karupin shrunk down and went to his master's motionless figure and started licking his hand. The wolf sat and watched everyone. He could feel that something had gone wrong; all those gloomy and unhappy faces in front of him. He walked over to Echizen and touched the bracelet on his wrist with his nose. It started to glow.

Ryoga looked down at him. "What are you doing?" he asked between sobs. The glow from the bracelet surrounded Echizen then the wolf started to glow. "What's happening?"

Everyone looked up with their tear stained faces. The wolf began to glow brighter and soon the light surrounded it completely and started to change.

"What's going on?" Oishi asked.

The wolf changed it shape and was now in the form of a person. Leon stared in awe. "Y-Your majesty."

Everyone looked at him. "What do you mean?" Momo asked. "I thought that the king pasted away."

"H-He did but-"

"No, you are correct." The figure in front of them spoke. "I am in deed dead."

They all stared in reverence. "Your majesty, if you are dead, how do you appear in front of us now?"

"Leon, have you forgotten?" Leon looked at the king. "Like this child," he pointed to Echizen. "I also had a divine."

"Ah! Your creature was a starlight wolf!"

"Yes." He smiled. "I have been watching over everyone since you arrived. I would have shown myself sooner but I was helpless with that ring around my neck. Thank you for removing it." He moved to be in front of Echizen. "Heh. He's just like me when I was a boy. Doing reckless things for the people he loves." He placed his hand on Echizen's forehead and it started to glow. He looked up at Ryoga. "Take good care of him." He smiled as his figure slowly started to fade away. Soon, it was gone and the glow faded.

"What… just happened?" Inui asked.

"That was- the spirit of the king." Leon said. "His soul must have been transferred into the wolf." He turned. "Ryoga…"

Ryoga was staring at the spot the king vanished from. He then looked at Leon then closed his eyes and hung his head.

"Chibisuke…"

"Ryoga, your tears are getting on me." Ryoga opened his eyes and slowly looked down. "And this position is very uncomfortable." He saw a narrow slit of gold staring back at him.

"Chibisuke?" he couldn't believe it. "Chibisuke!" he pulled his brother into another hug and started crying into his hair again.

Echizen smiled. "Your tight hugs hurt, onii-san."

"ECHIZEN/OCHIBI/BOCCHAN!" everyone crowded in and joined in the hug.

* * *

"Do you really have to leave?" Josiah asked.

"Ah. I don't belong here anymore." Echizen said as he and Josiah shook hands.

"You're the prince of these lands Heika, of course you belong here." Tatsuo said.

"Iya. My place lies with them." He pointed to the regulars behind him.

"Bocchan! I don't want you two to leave!" Leon pulled him and Ryoga into a hug. "Let me come with!"

"You-can't. You need to take care of things while I'm gone." He said trying to escape his grasp.

"Someone needs to look after all these people." Ryoga gestured to all the people that had gathered in front of the castle.

"I didn't even know that there were this many people left." Josiah said.

"Echizen! Let's go home! I want to take a bath. I feel filthy." Momo shouted to him.

"Hai!" Echizen tried once again to escape Leon but was unsuccessful unlike his brother. "Leon let go!"

Leon held on tighter and started whining. "Yadda! Don't go!" Echizen sighed.

After a few minutes of Oishi trying to get Echizen free, Leon finally let go and Echizen proceeded to the others.

"Come back soon Heika!' Josiah shouted.

"Ah!" Echizen waved to him. The regulars and Ryoga all made a circle around him. There was a bright light that surrounded them then they were gone, back to earth.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later…**

"Oi Mamoshi, what do you think you're doing?"

"Fsshhh…"

"Those two are fighting again."

"Stop it you two! You'll hurt each other!"

"Nya, I don't think that they care about that."

"Ii data…"

"Saa, just like old times. Ne. Tezuka?"

"Kaidou, Momoshiro, 20 laps now."

"Ha? But he started it!"

"30."

"Buchou!"

"Would you like to try for 40?"

Momo pouted and started to run. "This is your fault."

"Fsshhh… say that again."

"Hoi-hoi! Ochibi! Let's have a race! You said we could at your mansion remember? If I got better at flying then we could have a race!"

"Heh. Your friends really never change. I'm jealous of you Chibisuke."

Echizen looked at the sky. "Mada Mada Dane."

* * *

**Oh my god… it's finally over… *gets watery eyes* so many moments, so much sadness, love and friendship rule! How did everyone like it? I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. Hope no one hates me too much for taking forever to finish it.**

**The one thing he says all the time, and I use it for the last sentence of the story… god, this chapter is way too corny.**

**Forgive mistakes and corniness!**

**Tell me what you thought of the story as a whole! Inspire me to write again! **

**Thank you to everyone who has read and commented and faved and subscribed! I hope that everyone liked it!**

**Bye everyone!**


	27. for everyone who cares

_Whoa, what the hell is this?! When the hell was the last time I saw anything related to this story?! _I don't know. Whenever you last looked at it or read it. But I know what you're thinking, _no… you don't._ Okay, **maybe** I know what you're thinking: _**'Why the hell am I getting an alert about this story when it was completed many, many, many months ago?'**_ it's something along those lines right? See, I'm part psychic. Now, I know you're not supposed to put author's notes in here but this is just for the peoples who liked this and my other stories. _Get on with it. __**We don't need your life story.**_ Pushy people. Anyways, this is just a note from me to you saying that I foresee a sequel at some point in the near future. I've listened to lots of Ozzy lately and that got me thinking back to my story and how much fun I had writing it and getting all of your feedback and… I don't know. I'd like to have that feeling again. I've been working on two other stories not related to PoT, as you may have seen; my TF2 story and a Young Justice one that I never really got into and didn't get past writing chapter three but going back and rereading _Angel Prince_ again, I feel that you guys deserve a second one. _So that's what this is? You're telling us about a new story? __**Why couldn't you just tell us that in the first place?**_ Because I like making big things out of nothing :D but yeah that's it. 'Angel Prince 2' or something like that… I think it'll be called 'The Prince's Return', I don't know. Welp, that's it. New story, keep watch, should be out sometime this month. See ya guys laters!


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